
Class ELThJel 

Book, ,A/<?2- 

Copyright N?. . 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

IN EXPERIENCE AND DOCTRINE 
A RESTATEMENT 

BY 

REV. JAMES MUDGE, D. D. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

REV. WILLIAM F. WARREN, S. T. D., LL. D. 




CINCINNATI: JENNINGS AND GRAHAM 
NEW YORK: EATON AND MAINS 




>i 






COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY 
JENNINGS & GRAHAM 






)CLA293912 






/ 



DEDICATED TO 
PtIIntr Jftsfe, gbeplpn <©Iut, gitjalj gifting, 

AND THE MULTITUDES MORE (INCLUDING MY OWN FATHER AND 
MOTHER) WHO, BY EXAMPLE AND PRECEPT, HAVE MADE 
OUR METHODISM RADIANT AND REDOLENT WITH 
THE PULL POWER AND SWEETNESS OP 
THE MORE ABUNDANT SPIR- 
ITUAL LIFE. 



INTEODUCTIOK 

It is good to see that the time has once more 
come round when the world of authors and of 
readers are interested in the persons who have 
had adventures with God. So far as Tolstoy, 
and William James, and Harold Begbie may 
have contributed to bring about the new relish, 
we will remember them with gratitude ; so far 
as they have failed to exhaust the ideals and 
the fascinations of the highest Christian liv- 
ing, we will feel free, and even called upon, to 
continue our study of experience, and will con- 
tinue to educe therefrom doctrine as sound and 
vital as we may be able. Meantime, in the pres- 
ent state of the public mind, a new work on 
"The Perfect Life in Experience and Doctrine' ' 
ought to be sure of a wide and warm welcome, 
not only in circles specifically religious, but also 
among all persons who approach the theme 
from the side of psychology, or of education, 
or of art, or of ethics, or of any other human 
interest. 

5 



INTRODUCTION 

The ideal of the perfect life is not stationary 
and changeless even in the sphere of Christian 
thought. The Imitatio Christi by Thomas a 
Kempis is utterly incapable of inspiring the 
aspirations and moulding the endeavors of the 
Christian hosts of this country as they should 
be inspired and moulded. Its ideal is outgrown. 
Taylor 's "Holy Living' ' comes a little closer 
home to our generation, yet how feeble its ac- 
tual influence anywhere to-day. Here, as else- 
where, Browning's words holds good: 

Progress is 
The law of life : man is not man as yet." 

Until man is fully man, we must expect 
growth in all our ideals of human experience 
and human character. We must toil for it. 
Each generation should paint the supreme vi- 
sion it has seen, and hand down to posterity 
the divinest summons it has been able to hear. 

A prominent Eabbi of New York once wrote : 
"I have some knowledge of the perfect man, 
but I can not describe him, because it takes a 
perfect man to do it." Would he not have 
written more wisely had he said, "I have some 

6 



INTRODUCTION 

knowledge of the perfect man; I can not de- 
scribe him; but the more I try to do so, the 
more over-mastering is my determination to be 
like him?" 

The author of the present treatise needs 
no introduction to the multitudes who in differ- 
ent countries have already made his acquaint- 
ance through the many books and papers which 
have proceeded from his pen. Such readers 
have found him an apostle of sweetness and 
light, and know what to expect. It is gratifying 
to know that an extensive list of these works 
has been made up by the publishers for an- 
nouncement at the close of this volume. In 
those publications not a few points in the dis- 
cussions here presented find appropriate and 
helpful supplementation. To those who have 
no knowledge of the author I take pleasure in 
stating that he possesses rare qualification for 
the task to which he has felt himself called. As 
a busy pastor, Conference secretary, journalist, 
missionary, book reviewer, convention pro- 
moter, and such like, he has been given no time 
to become a dreamy and unpractical mystic. 
As a lover of good society, he has never been 

7 



INTEODUCTION 

tempted to spend his nights and days hidden 
away from his fellow-men. Believing with St. 
Paul that "all things" are ours, he has never 
seen any beauty of holiness in mere asceticism. 
For the rest of the story — well, let the pages 
which follow tell it. 

A perfect book on a perfect life would, I 
suppose, be one picturing that life in such self- 
luminous truth and completeness and charm as 
to leave no need or place for the mention of 
yiews less true, complete, or charming. For 
such a book we shall have long to wait. Mean- 
time the "restatement" of doctrine here com- 
mended to the reader strikes me as not only 
timely and profitable in a rare degree, but also 
as far more sound and Scriptural and accord- 
ant with the experience of the saintliest souls 
of all history than are any of the accounts or 
theories criticised therein. In my own ecclesi- 
astical communion it ought to be particularly 
effective in promoting peace and mutual under- 
standing and progress in every perfection to 
which we are summoned in Holy Writ, or in the 
daily monitions of the Comforter. 

Pne of the good fruits which I am antici- 

8 



INTRODUCTION 

pating from the reading of this study of the 
perfect life is a better comprehension on the 
part of Christian people of the inseparableness 
of the inward and the outward, the receptive 
and the communicative, the worshipful and the 
workful activities in such a life. The religious 
attainments, and even aspirations, of most peo- 
ple are one-sided. The contrast between the 
predominantly mystical and the predominantly 
practical was illustrated already in apostolic 
times in John and James, also in Mary and 
Martha of Bethany. In early and mediaeval 
Church history various influences frightfully 
exaggerated this contrast. Whole classes and 
orders of men and women were set apart and 
housed for the lifelong cultivation of the one 
or the other of these opposing abnormalities. 
In restoring a better balanced and more Scrip- 
tural teaching none of the Reformers rendered 
a service equal to that of the Wesleys. The im- 
provement is still going on. Even literature is 
demanding and helping to create characters of 
breadth and harmony. Whittier, red-hot abo- 
litionist, yet serenest of seers, aided many a 
reader to combine active philanthropy and the 

9 



INTKODUCTION 

vision of God. In like manner Bichard Watson 
Gilder, reared in a Methodist home, thrilled all 
saints with his songs almost angelic, yet at 
God's other calls showed himself able and will- 
ing bravely to defend as a soldier his imperiled 
country, to elevate the editorial standards of 
the American magazines, and anon to serve 
with all patience as Chairman of the Commis- 
sion for the Inspection and Betterment of the 
Tenement House System of New York City. It 
is a well-grounded hope that the future, at no 
distant date, may give us vast numbers of 
Christians of this broader type — men who can 
command armies or lead in the redemption of 
the slum, and yet all the while have within them 
hearts which are singing unto Christ, in the 
words of Gilder: 

" I think no thought that is not Thine, no breath 
Of life I breathe beyond Thy sanctity ; 
Thou art the voice that silence uttereth, 
And of all sound Thou art the sense. From Thee 
The music of my song, and what it saith 
Is but the beat of Thy heart, throbbed through me." 

May the blessing of the Triune God attend 
this book, and may it long be an honored instru- 

10 



INTRODUCTION 

ment in the perfecting of saints, and in advanc- 
ing Christ's Kingdom towards its promised con- 
summation. 

William Fairfield Warren, S. T. D. 
Boston University School of Theology. 



.TEXTUAL PRELUDE. 

Be perfected.— 2 Cor. 13: 11. 

Every one when he is perfected shall be as his teacher. 
—Luke 6: 40. 

Ye therefore shall be perfect as your Heavenly Father 
is perfect. — Matt. 5: 48. 

Having, therefore, these promises, beloved, let us 
cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, 
perfecting holiness in the fear of God. — 2 Cor. 7: 1. 

For the perfecting of the saints, unto the building up 
of the body of Christ, till we all attain unto a full grown 
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of 
Christ.— Eph. 4: 12, 13. 

Solid food is for full grown men, even those who by 
reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good 
and evil. Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first prin- 
ciples of Christ let us press on unto perfection, or full 
growth.— Heb. 5: 14; 6:1. 

And the God of peace make you perfect in every good 
work to do His will, working in you that which is well 
pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ. — Heb. 13: 20, 21. 

Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but 
one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind 
and stretching forward to the things which are before, I 
press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling 
of God in Christ Jesus.— Phil. 3: 13, 14. 

I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing against 
myself, yet am I not hereby justified; He that judgeth me 
is the Lord. — 1 Cor. 4: 3, 4. 

And the God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly. — 
1 Thess.5:23. 

13 



TEXTUAL PEELTJDE 

And the God of all grace, after that ye have suffered a 
little while, shall Himself perfect, stablish, strengthen 
you. — 1 Peter 5: 10. 

He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw 
near unto God through Him. — Heb. 7: 25. 

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that 
ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect 
will of God.— Rom. 12:2. 

We all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the 
glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image 
from glory to glory. — 2 Cor. 3: 18. 

Put on the new man that is being renewed unto knowl- 
edge, after the image of Him that created him. — Col. 3: 10. 

As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk 
in Him.— Col. 2: 6. 

I pray that your love may abound yet more and more 
in knowledge and in all discernment, so that ye may dis- 
tinguish the things that differ. — Phil. 1 : 9, 10. 

That ye may stand perfect and fully assured in all the 
will of God.— Col. 4: 12. 

God is able to make all grace abound unto you, that ye, 
having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound 
unto every good work. — 2 Cor. 9 : 8. 

My God shall supply every need of yours according to 
His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. — Phil. 4: 19. 

The peace of God which passeth all understanding shall 
guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. — 
Phil. 4: 7. 

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is 
stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. — Isa. 26: 3. 

The path of the just is as the dawning light that shin- 
eth more and more unto the perfect day. — Prov. 4: 18. 

Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Cor. 15: 57. 



14 



PEOLOGUE. 

Does this book need an apology for appearing? 
A word of explanation at least may be in order. 
Moved by a feeling that something of the sort 
was, on many accounts, needed, I sent out last 
October an article entitled "Progressive Sanc- 
tification," and nearly all the Methodist papers, 
North and South, gave it publication. The re- 
sponses, calling for a volume on the lines sug- 
gested, were very wide and enthusiastic. 
Among the letters of commendation received 
were many from our District and General Su- 
perintendents. One Bishop wrote, ' i I have read 
with care your article, and have much pleasure 
in heartily endorsing the views set forth : they 
seem to me safe and sane and Scrip tural." An- 
other Bishop wrote: "The thorough presenta- 
tion of the Wesleyan doctrine of sanctification 
in the light of the universal experience of God's 
saints in all ages and Churches, and also in the 
light of modern psychology and modern Biblical 

15 



PEOLOGUE 

scholarship, is a great desideratum. I consider 
your views sane and sound and in harmony with 
the best exposition of Biblical teaching and of 
actual experience.' ' A third Bishop says: "I 
cordially approve; and hope you will prepare 
the little volume you have in mind; I am con- 
fident it would fulfill an important mission." 

A fourth remarks: "I have read your clear 
and temperate statement, and totally agree with 
what you say. I wish the air might be cleared 
so that we who believe in the doctrine of per- 
fect love could say so without fearing to be 
identified with what we do not believe." And 
still another Bishop says: "I wish to express 
with emphasis my appreciation of the sanity, 
strength, and stimulating value of your article. 
The removal of the discussion from the old 
fields represented by the worn-out terms is cer- 
tainly a step in advance and a step upwards. 
There is no suggestion of the abnormal and 
extravagant in your expressions." 

Several others of the Episcopal Board ex- 
pressed themselves substantially to the same ef- 
fect, with heartiest approval of the undertaking 
and confidence that great good would result. 

16 



PROLOGUE 

The "little volume' 9 lias accordingly been made 
ready, and is here offered to the Church for the 
sole purpose of promoting the very highest type 
of Christian experience, salvation to the utter- 
most ; that which, when rightly set forth, is the 
crowning glory of Methodism, but when 
wrongly presented is one of the chief sources 
of variance. No one can be ignorant that there 
has been much of confusion and inconsistency 
connected with the ordinary treatment of the 
theme. It has come about mainly from the un- 
skillful and unscriptural use of language. 
There seems to be very little real difference of 
opinion in the Church about these things. 
Nearly all the controversy has been over words, 
and because there has been woful lack of clear 
definitions. Whole octavos have been wasted 
in refuting what nobody holds, and proving 
what nobody doubts. Theological champions 
fight imaginary foes and are happy in imag- 
inary victories. We have done our best to avoid 
this pitfall. If our book has any merit it will 
be due largely to extra care at this point. We 
have striven in this matter to see truth steadily 
and "see it whole :" to look at all sides of the 
2 17 



PROLOGUE 

subject without prejudice, perversity, or par- 
tisanship, avoiding half truths; to take a calm 
view, one characterized by common sense, and 
to render a plain account such as all might com- 
prehend. 

"Whether the book will take its place as a 
standard, with general acclaim, remains to be 
seen. It will not, of course, suit all. But it will, 
we think, commend itself to those who are, on 
the one hand, loyal to the fundamentals of Meth- 
odism, and, on the other hand, are fully aware 
that the changes of thought and statement 
which one hundred and fifty years have brought 
make necessary some modifications at minor 
points in the old way of putting things. Many 
see distinctly that if the Church is not to suffer 
very greatly from the too prevalent distaste of 
this theme arising from its abuse, there must 
be a fresh presentation of it free from all cant, 
from stereotyped expressions and meaningless 
phrases that do not ring clear with a good, 
strong, definite purpose. There has been too 
much ambiguity and empty repetition of time- 
honored language, too much hiding behind 
misty figures of speech that gave put no certain 

18 



PKOLOGUE 

significance, too much f orgetfulness that mod- 
ern psychology and exegesis have manifest 
rights, and have displaced many ancient modes 
of statement 

There has been at least an honest endeavor 
in these pages to combine the very best spirit 
of the past and the very best form of the pres- 
ent. They surely are not incompatible. With 
all due humility, but with confidence, the author 
feels warranted in saying, "I am not come to 
destroy, but to fulfill ;" not to overthrow any- 
thing valuable that the fathers had, but, retain- 
ing scrupulously all that was essential with 
them, to give it a slightly different dress so 
that it might be more acceptable in the eyes of 
this generation. 

The title-page speaks of "experience and 
doctrine." They are, of course, closely related. 
Christianity is not so much a system of doctrine 
as it is a way of life, the spirit of which is love. 
Yet the latter has the former for a basis, so that 
some attention must needs be paid to the former 
even by those whose interests are mainly with 
the latter. All intelligent minds crave consist- 
ency in their thinking, wish to be sure that their 

19 



PKOLOGUE 

beliefs have a reasonable foundation, can be de- 
fended at the bar of sound judgment, and are 
in accord with, the laws of the human intellect. 
There will be found, therefore, something of 
theology in the following chapters, but the put- 
ting of experience foremost, making it the sole 
theme of the first portion, will serve to show 
that our primary purpose is to promote the 
spiritual growth of our readers and of the 
Church in general. "We have written, not for 
the captious and contentious, but for those wHo 
wish above all things to make progress in di- 
yine things. We have written, not for those 
who worship the fathers and deem any depar- 
ture from their nomenclature a sin, but for 
those who prefer to live in the present and ex- 
ercise their own minds with some degree of free- 
dom. We believe there are many such in the 
Church who will welcome this book as that for 
which they have long waited. If, on reading it, 
they shall find anything still obscure to their 
minds, or any deficiency in the discussion, we 
shall be glad to hear from them; also if they 
have been especially benefited. 

We have ventured as little as possible into 
20 



PEOLOGUE 

the patlis of speculation and controversy. Nor 
have we piled up quotations, leaning limply on 
others as though distrusting either ourselves 
or the truth. We do not especially appeal to 
authority, but leave what we have said to our 
readers' judgment, to make its way by weight 
of its intrinsic reasonableness. "We make no 
parade of scholarship. Eef erences to other lan- 
guages and to learned names might be easily 
multiplied, but the process does not commend 
itself to us. We write mainly in the interests 
of our intelligent laymen and the younger min- 
istry, who have been so sorely perplexed by the 
condition in which this theme has been left, that 
they have felt disposed to give it the go-by alto- 
gether, much to their souls' loss. 

We have gone on the principle that the works 
of God in the human heart are the best inter- 
preters of His word, those least liable to be mis- 
understood. We have been very sparing in our 
use of passages of Scripture whose interpreta- 
tion is disputed. It is easy to build up a very 
large doctrine on a very small textual founda- 
tion, but its prospects of permanence under 
such conditions are not encouraging. It does 

21 



PBOLOGUE 

not seem to us the best way to arrive at truth. 
We have also striven, in the discussion, to re- 
member that the concrete classification of liv- 
ing men is not by any means the same as their 
abstract classification in theological systems. 
Moral classes are forming rather than formed. 
The process is continually going on. Men are 
being saved or being lost, being sanctified or 
perfected, instead of reposing in some finished 
state. 

The book is not a compilation, nor a mysti- 
fication, nor a disputation and vituperation, but 
a sincere attempt to lift the Church up to higher 
ground, recalling it to the standard and practice 
of the fathers. "We long for the awakening of 
the people to the full possibilities of grace di- 
vine. We have no quarrel whatever with those 
of different views. Such will no doubt help 
some whom we can not reach. And we can help 
some whom they repel. There is room for both. 
Why should we contend? We are all brethren, 
seeking the same thing. The land of Beulah is 
our object. Let us strive together to get to it 
in the shortest and quickest way. 

"The Perfect Life" was chosen as the title 
22 



PEOLOGUE 

out of many names that might have been used. 
It was meant to suggest that the book is for 
those who have an interest in steadfastly per- 
fecting their life, who can not rest wholly satis- 
fied so long as they are conscious that there is 
anything about them which might be improved, 
who have a thirst for all of godliness that is 
available and accessible. Can a genuine Chris- 
tian in his right mind deliberately aim at any- 
thing else than perfection? We speak of a per- 
fect life rather than of perfect love because the 
latter term, as we explain later on, has come in 
many quarters to stand for little more than a 
general good intention or an expression of kind 
feeling. It is vague and unduly emotional. We 
Relieve more thought should be given to the 
life. That love which does not take effect in 
the life and transform it through and through 
is not of the right sort. What is included in 
the term will appear as the reader proceeds. 
He is urged to read with thoughtful care, re- 
membering that to misunderstand in so complex 
a theme is easy. He is also entreated to use 
withal much prayer for personal profiting that 
he may be brought by these pages into a larger 

23 



PKOLOGUE 

and wealthier place of peace and power. If it 
shall be found that there is sufficient inspira- 
tion in this book to put aspiration into its pe- 
rusers, its author will be exceeding glad. 

It is a peculiar joy to me that Dr. William 
F. Warren, who has been at the head of our 
oldest theological school for more than forty 
years, at whose feet most delightedly and profit- 
ably I sat as a learner in those very earliest 
days of the school in Boston, and whose friend- 
ship I have prized ever since, should have con- 
sented to write the Introduction to this book, 
and thus in a measure be sponsor for it and for 
me to the public. There is no one whose ap- 
proval I could more highly appreciate and no 
one whose word will carry more weight with 
[the Methodist public. 

James Mudge. 

Maiden, If ass. 



24 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER ONE. 

PAGE 

The Author's Experience, 29 



CHAPTER TWO. 

A Few Experiences of Others, 56 

"Wilbur Fisk— Stephen Olin — Alfred Cookman — 
Daniel Steele — Absalom B. Earle — Charles G. Fin- 
ney — Dwight L. Moody — J. Wilbur Chapman — Asa 
Mahan — Thomas C. Upham. 

CHAPTER THREE. 

Still More Experiences, 90 

George Fox — George Muller — Adoniram Judson — 
Horace Bushnell — Benjamin M. Adams — Mrs. Mary 
Fletcher — Miss Frances R. Havergal — Mrs. Cather- 
ine Booth — Mrs. Mary D. James — Mrs. Hannah W. 
Smith. 

CHAPTER FOUR. 
The Lower and the Higher Paths, .... 115 

Two classes of Christians — By what terms shall 
we designate them? — Much wrong nomenclature — 
Its pernicious effects — Reform demanded — Sin and 
depravity— The soul's upward course — The normal 
Christian life — Regeneration and sanctification — 
When the crisis comes — The usual way— The more 
excellent way — How to walk therein. 

25 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER FIVE. 

PAGE 

Pressing on Toward the Goal, - 155 

How far is depravity removed — How much is in- 
cluded in depravity — Unwise professions — The open 
road for advance — What goal — Is it perfection? — 
Different meaning sof this word — Complete Christ- 
likeness — Ten arts of holy living. 

CHAPTER SIX 
The Ideal Christian, ....... 186 

Close relations of knowledge and love — The double 
standard — What is perfect love ? — Maturity and pu- 
rity — Reason for the second work, or epoch — The 
loyal and the ideal — Some marks of saintliness. 

CHAPTER SEVEN. 

Methodism's Distinctive Mission, .... 218 
Denominationalism needs justification — What 
Methodism stands for — The witness of the fathers — 
And of the General Conferences — Are we in danger 
of losing our leadership? — Reasons for the decline — 
The essential and the accidental in this matter — The 
true strength of Methodism — Sound the clarion. 

CHAPTER EIGHT. 

Some Interesting Questions, 243 

How far should we accentuate the " second bless- 
ing?" — What is making a hobby of holiness? — How 
definitely should we make a profession of high attain- 
ments? — What propriety is there in the phrase "made 
perfect in love?" — Just what can be obtained at once 
from God in answer to faith ? — Just what, in Christian 
experience or attainment, necessarily requires time? 
— Must we be emptied before we can be filled? — In 

26 



CONTENTS 

what sense can we lead a "perfect life?" — Is there 
more than one kind of holiness or love? — What is the 
state before God of those Christians who refuse the 
higher path or turn back from treading it? — Is there 
a difference between sins and infirmities? — May a 
clear distinction be made between sins and tempta- 
tions? — Is there a difference between being baptized 
with the Holy Ghost and being filled with the Holy 
Ghost? — Is there a direct witness of the Holy Spirit 
to the attainment of Christian Perfection? — How can 
we know that we are fully saved? — Are the terms 
"cleansing," "purification," and such like helpful 
or otherwise? — Is the term "root of bitterness" a 
proper one? — What is the relation of sanctification 
to growth? — Why should we be fully saved? — Why 
are there so few who seem to be, or claim to be, 
fully saved ? — What general counsels and directions 
may be added? 

Appendix, 291 

Index, 312 



27 



CHAPTER ONE. 
THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE. 

FIFTY YEABS IN THE HIGHER PATH. 

The first question winch a reader will natu- 
rally and legitimately ask, on taking up a book 
like this — a book whose design is to promote 
the highest type of Christian experience — is, 
"What spiritual as well as intellectual qualifica- 
tions has the writer for assuming to teach in 
so exceedingly profound and important a sub- 
ject? The intellectual qualification, if it exists, 
will become manifest as the book goes on. The 
spiritual also can not altogether be hidden. 
Yet we feel that some definite statement on 
this point is due at the very beginning, be- 
cause so much depends upon it. No teacher 
can impart what he has not learned. And on 
a theme like this the learning must be at first 
hand, at the feet of Jesus and in the secret 
place of the Most High. No mere theological 

29 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

and philosophical training, however extensive, 
will suffice. The reader will be justified in re- 
quiring something more, and his full confi- 
dence will not be commanded or deserved unless 
he is assured that the man who undertakes to 
guide him into the paths of perfect peace has 
himself walked therein for a good many years 
and is familiar with all their windings. Hence 
the author, braving any criticism that may ac- 
cuse him of unseemliness in thus laying bare 
to the public gaze sacredly personal matters, 
and exemplifying what he believes to be a su- 
preme duty in all whom God has blessed, testi- 
mony to His dealings, proceeds briefly to relate 
how the Lord has led him for over fifty years. 
It was in September, 1856, that I stood up, 
«i lad of twelve, in the large kitchen of an 
old-fashioned farm-house in the country — my 
grandfather's — where a prayer-meeting was 
being held, and quietly said that I purposed 
from that time on to lead a Christian life. It 
was in itself a very small thing, but it meant 
much to me. It had been preceded by no little 
thought as well as by good general habits, and 
was followed by a careful attendance on all 

30 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE 

the means of grace under the guidance of most 
godly parents. Such cases hardly ever prove 
ephemeral. Everything was in my favor. An 
ancestry of much more than common piety, 
reaching back to the first generation of Puritan 
settlers on these shores, and including Congre- 
gational deacons, together with the first mem- 
ber of the first Methodist Church in Massa- 
chusetts, as well as the first Methodist preacher 
raised up for Methodism on New England soil, 
no doubt aided considerably. Traditions of this 
sort have effect. Blood will tell. My father 
was a member of the New England Conference, 
together with two of his brothers and three 
more of my uncles. A most painstaking and 
judicious mother, herself wholly consecrated to 
God, gave me the utmost possible attention. 
How could I go astray! I pressed pn. My 
thirteenth birthday, April 5, 1857, saw me at 
the altar of the First Methodist Episcopal 
Church in Lynn (the first also in Massachu- 
setts, and the home of my ancestry) taking the 
solemn vows of Church membership. I faith- 
fully attended to all Christian duties, was active 
in class and prayer meeting, and served as li- 

31 



THE PEKFECT LIFE 

brarian in the large Sunday school. My joy 
in Jesus steadily increased as I came to know 
Him more. Before long, however, as I con- 
tinued my school life and Church life, I fell 
into the indulgence of a few doubtful practices 
in reference to which my conscience was not 
wholly at ease. I seemed to be gradually slip- 
ping into an unsatisfactory state of more or 
less worldly conformity. There were clouds in 
the spiritual sky. 

Happily I took alarm after a little, having 
been well trained, and my mind became greatly 
exercised on the subject of full salvation. I 
longed for a life of continual victory, peace, 
and power. So when I went, in August, 1860, 
to the annual camp meeting at Eastham on 
Cape Cod, as I had been accustomed to do for 
many years, it was with the earnest hope that 
I might receive this great blessing. But Mon- 
day evening, August 13th, the last night of the 
meeting, came without my having reached any- 
thing very definite. I had consecrated all, to 
the best of my ability, but nothing special 
seemed to come of it, and I knew not what to 
do next. I had a general idea that there must 

32 



THE ATTTHOE'S EXPEKIENCE 

be some great struggle, and I thought that per- 
haps if I prayed hard enough some marvelous 
change would result. But the simple step of 
appropriating faith I failed to apprehend. A 
good brother, whom I shall always remember 
with gratitude, seeing me at the tent door that 
night and learning how I was situated, cleared 
up my difficulty with a few simple explanations, 
showing that I needed just to take God at His 
word without waiting for feeling or for any 
other evidence of the work performed than the 
plain declaration of the Lord who can not lie. 
This broke the last link that bound me to the 
old self. Silently and alone, as I bowed under 
the oak trees, I firmly made up my mind to 
believe God, and determined that for the future, 
relying entirely upon the strength which I felt 
could not fail to be given as I trusted Him, I 
would bear every cross and be a whole-souled 
Christian. The gift I craved was received. In 
the prayer meeting between nine and ten that 
night I modestly made known the stand I had 
taken, openly avowing that the blessing I had 
sought was now obtained. There was no sud- 
den overpowering bliss, but a deep sweet peace, 
3 33 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

as of the conflict over and the harbor gained, 
gently stole into my soul. 

That hour stands out as memorably in my 
experience as the one four years before when 
I took the first step. It was another turning 
point in my course. I made a new departure. 
I entered on a freer, richer, stronger life. It 
was an epoch of great significance for all the 
following days. I returned to the High School 
at Lynn a different individual. There was no 
more shirking of duty. The old condition of 
ambiguity and sinful weakness was over. I 
implicitly obeyed whatever I felt to be the or- 
ders of God, and I no longer stopped or dulled 
my ears lest I should hear too plainly some 
orders that might be disagreeable to the flesh. 
I was eager to know and do his good pleasure. 
I labored with my unconverted companions. I 
bore clear and frequent testimony to the full 
salvation with which God had so wonderfully 
refreshed and fortified my soul. At college 
(Middletown, Conn.) whither I went in 1861, 
I took a leading part in aggressive religious 
work and in promoting the highest spiritual- 
ity. Unquestionably that camp meeting hour 

34 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE 

marked my entrance on the more excellent way, 
the higher path, which has gone on ever since 
shining more and more, each year without ex- 
ception an improvement on its predecessors. 
After the lapse of fifty years I am as much 
convinced as ever of the large importance of 
that epoch; and as much concerned as ever to 
promote similar epochs in the lives of others. 
But the experience of this half-century has 
made me fully aware that I did not obtain in 
1860 what at that time I was led to suppose. 
Very soon indeed, both while at college and 
subsequently, I came to know that the work 
performed on that momentous night was not 
so deep and thorough as was imagined. I was 
conscious of feelings which looked so suspi- 
ciously like ambition, pride, discontent, selfish- 
ness that I could not be perfectly at ease about 
the matter. The theory in which I had been 
trained (the usual Methodist doctrine) taught 
that all these things had been entirely removed 
at the time of the second blessing, when I was 
considered to be entirely sanctified and made 
perfect in love, and that what I now felt were 
only infirmities, mistakes, and temptations. I 

35 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

tried to think them so, for, of course, it was not 
pleasant to feel that I was in error or was not 
as good as had been fancied. But when I was 
most candid and most thoroughly honest with 
myself the explanation failed to satisfy. In 
short I became more and more certain, as the 
years went on, that in my case at least (and 
it seemed to me that in the case of all others 
I met), after the special blessing or second 
change there was need of further consecrations 
from time to time deepening, extending, and 
perfecting the work. In other words, I felt and 
saw that the sanctification wrought at conver- 
sion and at the subsequent epoch was in both 
cases entire up to the light then given, and no 
further. Absolutely perfect light was not given 
either at one time or at the other; and hence 
as the light subsequently increased, a subse- 
quent corresponding work in the heart remained 
to be done. 

This discovery, which came only after long 
probing and much puzzling to adjust matters, 
was of immense value to me. I passed out from 
the era of conventionality, which would have 
meant stagnation, into the era of individuality, 

36 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPEEIENCE 

which opened the way to intelligent permanent 
advance. It was no longer sufficient for me to 
be told that such and such views, such and such 
modes of statement, were orthodox and regular, 
vouched for by the fathers and authenticated 
by the authorities of the Church. Let me have 
the exact and absolute truth, I cried. Those 
great ones, or those "supposed to be pillars," 
were but men after all, visibly marked with 
many deficiencies, working amid manifest limi- 
tations, and evidently very careful to follow in 
the beaten track. Their opinions are worth no 
more than the arguments by which they are 
supported, and those arguments at some points 
seem curiously weak. Since what satisfied them 
does not satisfy me, it looks as though God had 
graciously vouchsafed me a divine revelation, 
one which may prove to be of profit to others 
also. I must at least use my liberty in the 
gospel and make the attempt to hear what 
the Lord will say. The upshot was that I 
cast off some of the old formulas which in- 
creasingly, in my case, failed to commend 
themselves at the bar of clear reason, and 
found in a more rational setting of the doc- 

37 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

trine a most decided gain in practical growth. 
The faults that from time to time cropped out 
in daily living could now be frankly called by 
their right names, and common sense means 
used for their correction. A straight-jacket no 
longer cramped endeavor or prevented the 
most vigorous grappling with whatever defects 
showed their ugly heads. Hence progress was 
much more solid, and the efforts made showed 
good results. 

May I be permitted to set down a few of 
these results? It seems a duty to share with 
others whatever one has reaped in the fields 
of grace. Not for one's self alone are God's 
favors accorded. There is much benefit often- 
times to fellow travelers, as well as glory to 
the great Giver, when any pilgrim along the 
highway to the Celestial City makes known the 
lessons that have come to him on the road, or 
rears on certain commanding and commemo- 
rative heights monuments of grateful praise. 
Such heights or peaks will, almost of necessity, 
occur. For, however prosperous and steady 
one's progress may be, there will come times 
when great gains are made in a brief period. 

38 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE 

An absolutely uniform movement of the mind 
for a long succession of years is hardly con- 
ceivable. Peculiar circumstances will arise 
that almost compel remarkable advances, or 
at least give occasion for such if properly im- 
proved. 

One occasion of this sort came to me in 1873, 
when I was summoned to put aside once for 
all hopes, plans, and ambitions of an ordinary 
ministerial career and take up the work of a 
missionary to India. This required a very con- 
siderable deepening of the consecration, al- 
though that consecration had hitherto been sup- 
posed to be complete. But it is one thing to say, 
in the enthusiasm begotten by a rousing mis- 
sionary address, or even in the quiet of one's 
study when contemplating it from a distance 
as an abstract proposition, I will give my life to 
the foreign field — to expatriation, to a perilous 
climate, to obscurity and hardship, to separa- 
tion from friends and to close contact with the 
uncongenial; — it is quite another thing to say 
this when it means immediate inevitable de- 
parture, perhaps never to return, when the ex- 
alted purpose and sublime desire is straight- 

39 



THE PEKFECT LIFE 

way to be turned into hard, cold, unromantic 
fact. So a more thorough-going surrender was 
made and accepted, with proportionate growth. 

Life in the mission field, attended with keen 
trials as it necessarily is, proved to be a further 
aid in this wholesome process of giving up and 
coming down, thus lending additional depth and 
height to spirituality. In the absence of other 
helps, such as are common in a Christian coun- 
try, a missionary is thrown very directly on 
God and led to cling with desperate eagerness 
to that " great Almighty hand that holds him 
in the desert land." Since other objects of 
desire fail and other aspirations are impossible 
now of fulfillment, the earnest soul is driven in 
upon itself and then driven mightily Godward. 
Shut out from other expansions it finds illim- 
itable range on the side toward heaven, and 
deliberately lays its plans for the utmost at- 
tainable growth upward. There were, accord- 
ingly, in those years some clearly marked de- 
velopments in larger likeness to Jesus, and some 
very rich outpourings of the Spirit. 

In the latter part of 1875 there came to me 
a wonderful baptism, the glorious influence of 

40 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE 

which long lingered, and as I review the record 
entered in my journals my heart thrills again 
with the rapture then vouchsafed to me un- 
worthy. An unspeakable longing filled my 
heart for the closest possible nearness to my 
Savior and a deadness to the world that should 
be indeed complete. Every conceivable step 
to this end I was ready and resolved to take. 
I was led to apprehend afresh that all things 
are ours, and that we have only to appropriate 
them by faith and walk off rich beyond any 
reckoning. My soul was as a watered garden, 
and delighted itself in fatness. My life flowed 
on in endless song, God's will the dearest thing 
in the universe to me. I seemed all the time 
in God's immediate presence, in intimate fel- 
lowship inexpressibly sweet. To serve Him 
otherwise than with exuberant gladness ap- 
peared impossible. There was a spirit of praise 
and a habit of peace in all things. I was over- 
whelmed with thoughts of Christ's wondrous 
love and condescending grace in thus calling 
me His beloved and letting me rest beneath His 
wings. I kept singing the doxology many times 
a day in the vain attempt to express my joy. 

41 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

My earthly vessel was more than filled witE 
His glorious presence. My cup ran over. 
Everything suggested God and prompted to 
praise or prayer. There appeared to be soul 
union with Jesus, and resurrection life in power. 
L The Scriptures took on new meanings, the old 
hymns new preciousness. Faith became daily 
more simple and easy and all-sufficient, bring- 
ing me closer to the source of strength. It was 
fun to live. I became wholly willing to do lit- 
tle, to do much, to do nothing, just as Provi- 
dence might intimate. Patience for a time had 
its perfect work, and nothing had power to 
ruffle or perturb. Jesus all the day long was 
my joy and my song. I feasted on the will 
divine, basked in perpetual sunshine, and drew 
lessons of good from everything. The Holy 
Ghost was very real. And it was inexpressi- 
bly delightful to give to God, more blessed 
than to receive from Him. The shield of faith 
quenched every fiery dart. I understood Paul's 
word about glorying in tribulation and taking 
pleasure in distresses. I became very weak 
and very strong. 

In 1879 there came another special revela- 
42 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE 

tion and appropriation of privilege. It was at 
the Dasahra Camp Meeting, which has been 
held in Lucknow annually, each October, from 
1871 to the present time, and is always a season 
of power. The Lord wonderfully met me in 
the Church. I had been for some little time 
impressed by the great confidence that a few 
others had that Christ was speaking through 
them and the Holy Spirit was dwelling in them. 
This imparted to them an unusual freedom and 
force of utterance. It set me to thinking and 
praying. Thursday morning, as I knelt near 
the pulpit, it suddenly came to me that what 
I needed was greater simplicity, that I was 
warranted in taking by faith a full supply for 
absolutely every need, that this was secured 
to me in Christ and I could freely claim it from 
Him. I had before counted it presumption to 
suppose that anything I could do would amount 
to much (which was plain proof of too much 
thought about the I) had made a sort of virtue 
of this spurious humility that was really pride. 
Now I was able to take a much more positive 
tone, I was delivered from the hampering fet- 
ters of self-consciousness and enabled to let 

43 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

Christ pour His word of power through me. 
The fountains of the great deep were broken 
up, and the waters of refreshment for others 
that the Mighty One intended to furnish even 
by my lips were let loose in much larger de- 
gree. I saw that when I had fully committed 
myself to Him as His mouthpiece He could and 
would and did use me, of course, and the effect 
could not be otherwise than beneficent. So I 
had much greater liberty in consequence of this 
forward step. 

But far more marked than this was a very 
marvelous baptism of love received at Shah- 
gehanpore in July, 1882, my last full year in 
India, after many weeks of special prayer and 
thought and several hours alone with God upon 
my knees in strong crying unto Him with tears. 
I had had some very bitter trials, owing to 
which a fuller disclosure was made to me than 
ever before as to certain remains of the self 
life needing further attention. I waited upon 
God in utmost renunciation and deepest desire, 
and at length the long prayed for victory over 
self in its subtlest forms arrived in such over- 
whelming measure that tears abounded and ut- 

44 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE 

terance was choked. It was a victory whose 
glory has never faded, and its hallowed influ- 
ence abides to-day. It settled many trouble- 
some questions, removed all that stood in the 
way of the best relations with people most un- 
happily constituted, relegated to God the whole 
business of judgment and punishment, left me 
nothing to do but to admire or to pity, and 
filled every avenue of my being with so sweet 
and precious a flood-tide of affection for all that 
earth was turned into heaven. I was made to 
see with entire clearness that I could not af- 
ford to have in my heart anything whatever 
(call it by no matter what plausible names) 
that was contrary to love and poisonous to 
peace; that I must put away absolutely all 
thoughts that would hinder, and cherish assid- 
uously all thoughts that would help, the sing- 
ing of this delightful bird of paradise. I could 
leave to the great Judge all questions of retri- 
bution for injuries and slights. My one and 
only business was simply to love all, giving 
them credit for good motives in spite of ap- 
pearances, making ingenious excuses for them, 
fixing my mind on their good qualities and 

45 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

speaking of nothing else, sincerely compassion- 
ating those still in bondage to self and striving 
to help them, accepting heartily all opposition 
and disparagement as a Father's well planned 
appointment for my good, insisting that others 
love me full as much as I deserve, and earnestly 
endeavoring to deserve it more, esteeming 
others more highly in love for their works' 
sake, never taking offense, but keeping so full of 
God, so entirely satisfied with the infinite su- 
periority of His great bestowments that nothing 
of a lower sort could have any power to disturb. 
These were the truths that took hold of me 
most profoundly and did not let go. They were 
from the Father of light and love. They made 
a most beneficent change in my life. I have 
been a better man ever since because of that 
morning beside my bed alone with my best 
Friend. 

Since I have been back in America there 
have been several seasons of very marked ad- 
vancement and uncommon uplift. One occurred 
in 1886, when for several months new possibil- 
ities of divine grace were discovered and most 

46 



THE AUTHORS EXPERIENCE 

joyfully accepted; when the doing or bearing 
of the will of God furnished a rapturous de- 
light that no words could in any way express ; 
when the splendor and the beauty of that will 
was appreciated as never before; when to 
suffer with and for Christ was accounted the 
rarest privilege, and divine union of the closest 
sort was most blessedly realized. There was a 
dedication in a new sense to the positive pushing 
of the highest type of religion, to intensity in 
goodness, to louder praises and more boldness 
in the blessing of the holy name, to a more 
thorough sinking of self out of sight, and a 
more absolute contentment with Providence. 
Faith meant more, so that the unseen things 
were exceedingly real. Whole-heartedness in 
Christian living meant more, so that there was 
a prompter recognition of God's will in every 
smallest event, and a sweeter satisfaction in 
each of those manifestations of the will divine 
that the moments never fail to bring. There 
was a deeper and completer dedication to Him, 
a perfect reveling in His word, a sublime in- 
difference to everything outside of His good 

47 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

pleasure, a praying without ceasing and a giv- 
ing of thanks for absolutely all which made the 
days and months heavenly in the highest sense. 
Perhaps space should not be taken to speak 
here of more than one other of these many "vi- 
sions and revelations of the Lord" which have 
come with such abundant refreshment along my 
pilgrim pathway. In January, 1908, I experi- 
enced a very serious heart attack which threat- 
ened for a time to be fatal. This was followed 
in a few weeks by the decease of my dearly 
beloved wife, with whom I had walked in most 
blessed harmony for thirty-five years. And 
this was followed in a few weeks more by the 
close of my forty years in the pastorate. Surely 
this was a momentous combination of events; 
and God very greatly blessed it to my highest 
good. The cloud had more than a silver lining; 
it was suffused with the brightness of His pres- 
ence and the cheer of His voice. There were 
no shadows ; they fled before His smile, for He 
said, "Thou art My beloved son, in thee I am 
well pleased, thou hast glorified Me in the fires 
of purification. " Sorrow touched by Him grew 
bright with more than rapture's ray. I felt 

48 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE 

willing to bear cheerfully for Him whatever 
He sent, even though it were ten times as hard. 
No storms were able to shake my inmost calm. 
The bitter was sweet, the medicine food. I 
dwelt in the border land of the Heavenly conn- 
try in sight of the city celestial and the palace 
of the King which seemed to be very near. 

It will be seen from this very imperfect 
sketch, which might be easily extended to mani- 
fold larger proportions, that my experience 
fully agrees with that of the Rev. Benjamin M. 
Adams of saintly memory, who took his trium- 
phant flight to Heaven December 23, 1902, in his 
seventy-ninth year, and who was accustomed to 
say, ' ' The souls of men get on toward God, as a 
rule, by a series of crises. ' ' I have related some 
of the more important crises by which I have 
been enabled to get on toward God. A multi- 
tude of smaller ones might readily be supplied. 
But the essential elements of the matter can be 
discerned from what has been given. In be- 
tween these epochs or occasions of special bless- 
ing there have been quieter periods of steady 
onward movement. The high emotions were 
of necessity only for a season, gradually fading 

* 49 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

away into "the light of common day," and 
giving place to more equable progression. We 
could not endure constant living in the rarefied 
atmosphere of the loftiest peaks. Cataclysmic 
or paroxysmal states must be comparatively 
infrequent. Steadfast continuance in the ordi- 
nary means of grace and very diligent use of 
all available helps from day to day has been 
my mainstay. Nine-tenths of my growth has 
certainly been after this manner. There have 
been many marked upward steps, to be sure, 
many climbings or soarings, but the extended 
plains of level walking have been, after all, the 
main matter, so far at least as time is concerned. 
If there had not been faithfulness in the im- 
provement of little opportunities the greater 
chances would have passed by unseen, or I 
should not have been in condition to make the 
best use of them. The staple of almost any 
healthy Christian experience, it seems to me, 
must be a quiet uneventful growth, very much 
like that which we see in the animal and vege- 
table world around us. I have certainly found 
it so in my own case. And yet without these 

50 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE 

unusual and marked seasons also how much 
poorer I should be. 

The special methods that have been blessed 
to me for this daily and weekly growth it will 
be better to enlarge upon later in this volume. 
A few general reflections here may fitly con- 
clude this opening chapter. the marvelous 
goodness of God! Such a review leaves me 
lost in wonder, love, and praise. How few have 
had so protracted an experience of His love in 
its larger developments ! Not many beginning 
so early have held on so long in an unbroken 
progress. That I have not made crooked paths 
or gone astray to follow some mirage has been 
wholly due to His mercy. Something more than 
human strength and natural goodness has been 
involved. A Divine Hand has upheld and led. 
How ample and special His care ! He has pre- 
served me from stumbling and kept my heart 
beating with a fixed purpose to serve Him well. 
He has enabled me to keep a straight course 
without stumbling for five and fifty years. 
Such protracted continuance was by no means 
in my thought at that far-away time when I 

51 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

started, I could not have counted on it, but 
it lias come in tlie good providence of the kind 
Father. My advantages and opportunities 
have surely been exceeding great. Naught has 
been lacking to afford needful aid. Thanks be 
to God who has given me the victory! 

Yet grief also comes in a little as a conse- 
quence of such review, grief that the victory 
has not been more complete and continuous. 
For, after all, the mistakes have been many, 
and the sins far too numerous. The apostle 
tells us that "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." 
A perfect faith, never lapsing or shrinking or 
faltering, would have produced at some points 
a different life from that which has gone on 
record. There has not been perfect patience 
or perfect self-control or perfect gentleness and 
meekness or perfect acceptance of the will of 
God at all times without lack of promptitude 
or heartiness. Indeed, in what direction has 
there been, taking the years through, an ideal 
attainment and exhibition of the highest, purest 
character? The flaws have been manifest and 
multitudinous. Compared with the perfect life 
in its sun-drenched brightness and immaculate 

52 



THE AUTHOE'S EXPEEIENCE 

whiteness, mine has been clouded and spotted 
and gray. Alas, alas, I could have done much 
better, no doubt. Conscience affirms it. Why 
did I not? the discouraging persistency of 
natural type. the small amount of improve- 
ment that seems to show itself after no end of 
hard work. The perfecting of character is very 
slow business. A foot near the last means as 
much as a mile towards the first. Try as hard 
as we like, we can not make ourselves over into 
an ideal combination composed of all the ex- 
cellencies which we admire in those around 
us. There appear to be limitations exceedingly 
difficult if not impossible wholly to overcome. 
And yet we could doubtless overcome them 
more speedily were we in desperate earnest so 
to do. An intenser concentration of aim, a 
deeper realization of the importance of the 
things of the Spirit, a closer study of ways 
and means, a fiercer rebuke of the first prompt- 
ings of the tempter — these, had I possessed 
them, would have made me a better man. But 
the past can not be recalled. Thank God, it is 
under the blood! 

Besides gratitude and grief, it is possible 
53 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

and allowable, I think, to have a feeling of 
modified satisfaction in looking over a Chris- 
tian life such as has been here outlined. It is 
the feeling that Paul had when he found himself 
able to declare near the close, "I have learned 
to be content," U I have kept the faith, there 
is a crown laid up." It is the feeling of every 
one who has run the Christian race with a good 
degree of faithfulness and success. One may; 
adopt these words, I think, with all humility, 
without undue assumption of personal credit. 
Facts are facts. Truth is truth. "We are not 
called upon to accuse ourselves falsely with 
morbid, insincere depreciation. If the life has 
been such, on the whole, as to reflect honor on 
the Master, if the stand for principle has been 
firm, activity in righteousness stamped with 
zeal, aspiration for highest holiness keen and 
constant, usefulness considerable, is there not 
here ground for no small satisfaction? If the 
sins, after all, have been those of ignorance, 
weakness, and surprise, quickly repented of, in 
no way deliberate or intentional, if the consci- 
ence has been clear, the walk circumspect, the 

54 



THE AUTHOB'S EXPEEIENCE 

record clean, surely there is plentiful cause for 
well-founded gratification, far more than in 
the contemplation of hoarded gold or worldly 
honor. 

Blessed be His holy name forever! Amen, 
and Amen ! 

Let one more attest : 
I have seen God's hand through a life-time, 
And all was for best." 

Robert Browning. 



55 



CHAPTER TWO. 
A. FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS. 

WILBUR FISK — STEPHEN OLIN — ALFRED COOKMAK 

^—DANIEL STEELE — ABSALOM B. EARLE CHARLES 

G. EINNEY — DWIGHT L. MOODY — J. WIBTJR CHAP- 
MAN" ASA MAHAtf THOMAS C. TJPHAM. 

While God fulfills Himself and reveals Him- 
self in divers fashions, manifoldly and multi- 
fariously, there is, nevertheless, a measurable 
uniformity in His manifestations. There are 
certain fixed principles of procedure, varied in 
their practical applications by changing circum- 
stances and the peculiarities of personal tem- 
perament. To ascertain these principles by the 
inductive process a large collection of facts is 
necessary. A considerable number of particu- 
lar cases being gathered and analyzed, certain 
general conclusions may be drawn from them 
with a fair degree of certainty. This is scien- 
tific. So far as there is exact observation, cor- 

56 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS 

rect interpretation, and rational explanation, 
satisfactory results may be looked for. Phi- 
losophy employs this method in the investiga- 
tion and verification of principles. It seems to 
us to have a very important place in the as- 
certainment of the divine method of working 
on human hearts. Psychology has made much 
use of it in recent years with gratifying ef- 
fects. A foundation of fact is thus afforded 
on which theories may be based more firmly 
than when they are wholly dependent on doubt- 
ful exegesis or ambiguous texts. We covet 
this solid certainty, but its acquisition is at- 
tended with difficulty. An exhaustive enumer- 
ation of incidents is no way possible. And very 
few reporters can accurately relate their own 
feelings under high excitement. Few have suf- 
ficient powers of introspection, or sufficient com- 
mand of language, or a sufficiently unbiased 
mind. Their theories and prejudices largely 
color their accounts. They see and hear and 
feel what they have been taught to. They ob- 
serve what they have been expecting. What 
they say is perhaps so clothed in conventional, 
artificial, and inapplicable figures of speech that 

57 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

no definite idea can be drawn from it. Raptur- 
ous emotion is evident, clear thought is absent. 
The testimony is well meant and to a certain 
degree interesting, but wholly without value for 
exact conclusions. The evidence of untrained 
minds who essay to glorify God by such narra- 
tions may be stimulating in a way, but is of no 
particular worth for substance of doctrine. 

Hence in gathering two score experiences 
we have restricted ourselves to ministers of 
eminence and a few other educated people of 
large usefulness who could be trusted to tell 
the thing as it is and whose names would in 
themselves carry weight. Our hope is that this 
selection will commend itself to our readers 
as something much beyond the ordinary in the 
way of giving pointers on the path to perfec- 
tion. "We have not confined the names to Meth- 
odists, but have chosen them from many 
Churches, so that denominational bias might be, 
so far as possible, eliminated and a broader 
basis obtained for our examination and reflec- 
tion. Men and women will be found, ministers 
and laymen, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, 
Baptists, Episcopalians, and Friends, as well as 

58 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS 

those of other communions, all united in spirit 
if not speaking quite the same language, and all 
giving witness to the power of God to save to 
the uttermost. If the reader can peruse these 
accounts (brief as they must of necessity be) 
unmoved, unstimulated by a desire to have 
something of the same joy, much of the same 
divine peace and victory, he is hardly fitted to 
go on with the succeeding chapters of this book. 
Those chapters will be the more attractive to 
him and the better understood by him in pro- 
portion as he enters heartily into the spirit of 
the condensed narratives that here follow. 

We have put in our dedication the names of 
Wilbur Fisk, Stephen Olin, Elijah Hedding, Al- 
fred Cookman, and Daniel Steele. The experi- 
ence of Bishop Hedding is, unhappily, not ob- 
tainable, but he is known to have had a very 
satisfactory one on which, through over mod- 
esty perhaps, he said but little. But he 
preached at the Conferences memorable ser- 
mons that did much to arouse deeper interest 
in the subject among the ministers and settle 
their minds as to the true purport and validity 
of the Methodist doctrine. The other four wit- 

59 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

nesses above mentioned have left accounts from 
wHcli we proceed to draw. 

Wilbue Fisk. 

Wilbur Fisk (1792-1839), first President of 
Wesleyan University, elected Bishop in 1836, 
had many high honors and a most useful life, 
but that life would have been sadly lacking and 
altogether different except for what came to 
him at Wellfleet Camp Meeting (predecessor of 
Eastham) August 13, 1819. He was then pastor 
at Charlestown, Mass. His mind had been 
deeply wrought upon in regard to the subject 
of holiness before going to the camp. Much 
was said about it there, and a sermon by Timo- 
thy Merritt on the baptism of the Holy Spirit 
strongly arrested his attention. He sought ear- 
nestly, with much prayer and no little struggle 
amounting to anguish, for fullness of love and 
victory over all sin. Some of the sisters were 
greatly exercised for him, and received the as- 
surance that he would obtain what he needed. 
It was in Father Taylor's tent, Thursday morn- 
ing, that deliverance came. Souls were being 
converted. "We rose to sing," writes Mr. Fisk; 

60 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHEES 

"I looked up to God, thanked Him for hearing 
prayer, and cried, 'Lord, why not hear prayer 
for my soul?' My strength began to fail me 
while I looked in faith. ' Come Lord, and come 
now. Thou wilt come. Heaven opens, my Sav- 
ior smiles. glory to God ! Help me, my breth- 
ren, to praise the Lord!' The scene that was 
now open to my view I can never describe. I 
could say, 'Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee 
above everything.' I was humbled in the dust 
that God should so bless such an undeserving 
soul." 

The Rev. Jotham Horton, who was present, 
writes : ' i The habits of philosophical investiga- 
tion which Mr. Fisk's previous education had 
induced made him exceedingly careful, lest the 
fruits of imagination under high devotional 
feeling or the effervescence of strong religious 
excitement should be substituted for the sancti- 
fying influence of the Holy Ghost. He had just 
been engaged in vocal prayer, and one sentiment 
which he had devoutly expressed was that no 
influence save that of the Holy Spirit might 
give character to the devotion in which they 
were engaged. He was in the very act of guard- 

61 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

ing against strange fires and supplicating a holy 
baptism when, so overwhelming were the mani- 
festations of the power of God, that he sank to 
the ground. When he had so far recovered his 
physical strength as to be taken to his own tent, 
there was held another season of holy commun- 
ion. Being unable to stand he was supported 
by ministerial brethren. His language and 
whole appearance had something in them more 
than human, indicating that his soul then 
glowed with ardors of love allied to those of 
the angels.' ' Mr. Merritt, looking on, re- 
marked, "I never saw the power of God so dis- 
played on earth.' ' From this meeting Mr. Fisk 
dated his experience of perfect love. "God was 
pleased," he wrote a few days afterward to his 
sister, "to empty my soul of sin and fill it with 
love in the same moment.' ' 

His biographer, Dr. Prentice, says: "It is 
certain that the marvelous scenes at Wellfleet 
made a permanent change in Fisk's religious 
life. Before that he had passed through sea- 
sons when he doubted the fact of his acceptance 
with God, his personal interest in Christ, and 
even the truth of Christianity itself. He was 

62 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS 

delivered from such things forever at Wellfleet. 
From this time forth he never changed his esti- 
mate of the nature of the work of grace wrought 
in his soul at the camp meeting, nor was there 
anything in his spirit or speech or conduct, pub- 
lic or private, which ever led men associated 
with him to think his conception of that work 
a mistaken one. On the contrary, the testimony 
of all his associates in the various positions he 
filled was uniform and outspoken that he did 
live up even to the high standard he professed." 
Dr. Holdich, long associated with him at the 
university, writes: "From this time he has 
been heard to say that he never laid his head 
upon the pillow at night without feeling that if 
he never awaked in this world all would be well. 
Prior to this he was often subject to desponding, 
gloomy seasons : we heard him say long after- 
wards that he knew no gloomy hours, his mind 
was always serene and happy.' ' 

Stephek Olin. 

Stephen Olin (1797-1851), another great 
President of Wesleyan University, and one of 
the strongest men that American Methodism 

63 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

lias produced, had a clear progressive experi- 
ence in this matter. Dr. Abel Stevens thus 
relates the substance of a conversation with 
him at Boston in 1845. "I had," he remarked, 
"difficulties regarding our theological views of 
the doctrine of sanctification. I even joined the 
Conference with exceptions to it, and stated my 
objections when a candidate before the whole 
body. But I was admitted; the Conference ex- 
pressing a hope that further inquiries would 
rectify my views. Years, however, passed with- 
out any modification of my opinions. But it 
pleased God to lead me on into the truth. My 
health failed; my official employments had to 
be abandoned ; I lost my children, my wife died, 
and I was wandering over the world alone, with 
scarcely anything remaining but God. I lost 
my hold on all things else, and became, as it 
were, lost myself in God. My affections cen- 
tered in Him. My will became absorbed in His. 
I sunk, as it were, into the blessing of perfect 
love, and found in my own consciousness the 
reality of the doctrine which I had theoretically 
doubted. ' ' 

His biographer speaks of "four great land- 
64 



A FEW EXPEEIENCES OF OTHEES 

marks of spiritual progress which he erected in 
his journal with the deepest solemnity and as 
in God's immediate presence.' ' The first com- 
memorated his conversion. The second, a 
fuller dedication on his birthday, March 2, 1840, 
when he began his perilous journey through the 
Sinaitic desert, and wrote in his journal: "This 
enterprise I especially commit to God, as I do 
myself unreservedly for time and eternity, 
through Jesus Christ.' * The fourth was on the 
borders of death, when God granted him a spe- 
cial vision of the heavenlies. The third was in 
1842, after returning from abroad, "a good deal 
improved in spiritual things, " as he says, "but 
strongly led by all that had happened to him 
of affliction and deliverance, to seek perfect con- 
formity to His will." He was enabled to real- 
ize it to a greater extent than ever before. He 
writes in his journal: "I have endeavored to 
make a new and solemn offering of soul and 
body to Christ and am earnestly seeking for 
the experience of perfect love, for all the full- 
ness of God. I here enter my solemn vow that 
I will from this hour, and through all my future 
life, make God's will the sovereign rule of my 
5 65 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

actions. I perpetually present before Him in 
living sacrifice my body and soul, my life and 
health, my humble talents and attainments, my 
influence and time and property, to be used only 
as a trust for which I am strictly accountable. 
I humbly pray for grace to keep this solemn 
pledge which I here record with great delibera- 
tion and under a deep sense of its import.' J 
There is evidence to show that this deeper dedi- 
cation was fully accepted, and productive of the 
best results. Writing soon after, he says: "I 
never before experienced such rest in Christ, 
such calm, unshaken faith, such ready unswerv- 
ing consent of the heart to the divine will." "I 
am happier than I ever was before. I find God 
present with me in a new sense. I rest in God. 
I am satisfied with Him. His will is mine. 
Mine is swallowed up in His. Christ is my all 
in all. Bless His holy name ! ' ' His biographer 
says: "From this time the doctrine of full re- 
demption was very precious to him, and he 
looked with painful feelings upon anything cal- 
culated to bring it into disrepute, or lower the 
standard of piety which it implies.' ' 

66 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHEES 

Alfred Cookman". 

Alfred Cookman (1828-1871) had a genius 
for religion ; lie was a spiritual seer, belonging 
to the highest royalty of earth, the seraphic. 
"While preaching on the Attleboro circuit in 
Pennsylvania, before he was twenty, through 
the influence of Bishop Hamline, whose glow- 
ing experience in the line of heart purity is well 
known, he made a more intelligent, specific, and 
carefully complete surrender than had before 
been possible, thus inaugurating a new religious 
epoch and entering on the blessed rest of a de- 
cidedly higher life, counting himself, as he says, 
"wholly sanctified through the power of the 
Holy Ghost.' ' "Peace, broad, deep, full, satis- 
fying, sacred peace," he says, "was the immedi- 
ate effect. what blessed rest in Jesus ! What 
a conscious union and constant communion with 
God, what increased power to do or suffer the 
will of the Father, what confidence in prayer, 
what joy in religious conversation, what illumi- 
nation in the perusal of the sacred word, what 
increased unction in the performance of public 
duties!" After enjoying this for a short time 

67 



THE PEBFECT LIFE 

lie lost it, through grieving the Spirit of God 
at Conference by foolish joking, hilarious story 
telling, and tobacco smoking. 

For some unexplained reason — lack of 
proper teaching probably— he allowed more 
than nine sad, crippled, and wasted years to 
elapse before he renewed his covenant. He did 
this July 16, 1856, giving up his tobacco and all 
doubtful indulgences, and entering into a 
wealthy place from which he never afterward 
consciously departed. From this time on full 
salvation was his distinctive theme, his abiding 
joy. We do not find, however, that he inter- 
mitted his endeavors after greater nearness to 
Christ. In 1862 his testimony was: "I have 
been able to say for years, I am saved through 
the blood of Jesus Christ. I have no doubt of 
my personal purity, but I want to be filled with 
the Spirit. I am hungering and thirsting after 
righteousness, and God is filling me. I have 
been too anxious for all the fullness at once: 
but I am willing to be filled as God may deter- 
mine. I am climbing up. I do n't leave my pres- 
ent standpoint, but I am climbing up, and wish 
to do so for ever and ever." Again he said: 

68 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS 

"It is the especial desire of my heart that I may- 
be filled with God. I am panting for more of 
God, more of His truth, more of His holiness, 
more of His power; I want the fullness of the 
blessing of the gospel of peace.' ' At a later 
date, 1871, shortly before his death he got yet 
clearer revelations as to the path of perfection, 
and said: "I used to maintain that the blood 
was sufficient, but I am coming to know that 
tribulation brings us to the blood that cleanseth. 
I have known for many years what it is to be 
washed in the blood of the Lamb : now I under- 
stand the full meaning of that verse, * These are 
they which came out of great tribulation,' per- 
fect or purified through suffering.' ' And not 
far from the same time he wrote: "Cleansed 
from sin let us go on, concerned to be without 
wrinkle of any such thing. After the washing or 
purifying there are other processes used by the 
power or Spirit of God in smoothing and adorn- 
ing and perfecting our characters. "We want to 
be presented faultless before the throne of God 
with exceeding joy." 



69 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

Daniel Steele. 

Daniel Steele (1824 ), after a pastorate 

of twelve years in the New England Conference, 
and a professorship of eight years in Genesee 
College, Lima, N. Y., in November, 1870, under 
the ministry of Eev. A. B. Earle, evangelist, 
was led to see the great deficiency of his previ- 
ous ministry and to seek with all earnestness 
for that "rest of faith in Jesus" which the 
evangelist so evidently possessed and preached, 
"the conscious and joyful presence of the Com- 
forter" in his heart. He found, he says, as he 
examined the matter closely that his faith had 
"three points to master, the Comforter, for me, 
now. Upon the promise, ' Verily, verily, I say 
unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father 
in My name He will give it you,' I ventured 
with an act of appropriating faith, claiming the 
Comforter as my right in the name of Jesus. 
For several hours I clung by naked faith. Sud- 
denly I became conscious of a mysterious power 
exerting itself upon my sensibilities. My phy- 
sical sensations, though not of a nervous tem- 
perament, in good health, alone and calm, were 

70 



A FEW EXPEKIENCES OF OTHERS 

indescribable, as if an electric current were 
passing through my body with painless shocks, 
melting my whole being into a fiery stream of 
love. The Son of God stood before my spiritual 
eye in all His loveliness. This was November 
17, 1870, the day most memorable to me. I now 
for the first time realized 'the unsearchable 
riches of Christ/ He seemed to say, 'I have 
come to stay.' Yet there was no uttered word, 
no phantasm or image. It was not a trance or 
vision. The affections were the sphere of this 
wonderful phenomenon, best described as 'the 
love of God shed abroad in the heart by the 
Holy Ghost. ' I did not at first realize that this 
was entire sanctification. The positive part of 
my experience had eclipsed the negative, the 
elimination of the sin principle by the cleansing 
power of the Paraclete. But it was verily so. 
.... In regard to the process of becoming es- 
tablished in holiness, I found this to be God's 
open secret, 'to walk by the same rule and to 
mind the same thing. * The rule is, faith in 
Christ ever increasing in strength, the con- 
science being trained to avoid not merely sinful 
and doubtful acts, but also those whose moral 

71 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

quality is beyond the reach of all ethical rules 
and known to be evil only by their effect in dim- 
ming the manifestation of Christ within. ... I 
testify that it is possible for believers to be so 
filled with the Holy Ghost that they can live 
many years on the earth conscious every day of 
a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in 
light, and of no shrinking back, because of a 
felt need of further inward cleansing, from an 
instant translation into the society of the holy 
angels and into the presence of the holy God. 
This has been my daily experience since 1870.' ' 

Absalom Backus Eaklb. 

It would seem fitting to put next the expe- 
rience of Mr. Earle, the Baptist evangelist 
through whom Dr. Steele entered into rest. It 
was in 1859, he records, that he began to feel 
an inexpressible longing for the fullness of 
Christ 's love. He had been in the ministry a 
good while and seen multitudes brought to 
Christ, but he found something lacking in his 
peace and joy; it was not uninterrupted. After 
much waiting, and revolving the matter in his 
mind for a long time, he became satisfied that 

72 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS 

Christ had made provision for all His children 
to abide in the fullness of His love without one 
moment's interruption. He therefore deliber- 
ately resolved to obtain it at any sacrifice. He 
wrote out in a book, slowly and solemnly on his 
knees, a new consecration to Christ, asking for 
grace to enable him to carry out his vow. But 
it was a good while before peace came, before 
he obtained what he sought. His faith proved 
deficient and weak, he could not seem to believe 
the promise. But at length he began to see the 
way more clearly and to trust more fully. 
While in his room, alone, pleading for the full- 
ness of Christ's love, all at once a sweet heav- 
enly peace filled his soul. "I felt, I knew that 
I was accepted fully of Jesus. A calm, simple, 
childlike trust took possession of my whole be- 
ing. For the first time in my life I had that 
rest which is more than peace, peace without 
fear. I seemed in a new world, my burden was 
gone, my cup was full, and Jesus was present 
with me. I felt that Jesus would hereafter keep 
me, that I should not have to help Him keep 
me, as I had been vainly trying to do, but could 
trust it all to Him, that now I had two hands 

73 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

instead of one to work with. There has not been 
one hour of conscious doubt or darkness since 
that time. Day and night the Savior seems by 
me. Preaching is a luxury. My success in lead- 
ing souls to Jesus has been much greater than 
before. The Bible appears like a new book. 
All Christians are dearer to me than ever be- 
fore. It is much easier now to resist tempta- 
tion. I do not call it perfection, nor a sinless 
state, but the rest of faith, a calm, sweet resting 
all with Christ." 

Charles G. Finney. 

Three other evangelists, one before Mr. 
Earle's day, two since, may appropriately tes- 
tify just here. Charles G. Finney (1792-1875) 
was the first President of Oberlin College, and 
also one of the greatest evangelists ever seen 
on this continent. In 1821 he had a very re- 
markable conversion, and, going to work 
straightway for Jesus, great revivals broke out 
under his preaching. After some fifteen years 
he became increasingly dissatisfied with his 
want of stability in faith and love, his weakness 
in the presence of temptation, and the difficulty 

74 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS 

lie found in retaining complete hold of the di- 
vine strength. He began to see clearly that 
there was "an altogether higher and more sta- 
ble form of Christian life attainable, ' ' that it 
was the privilege of all Christians to live with- 
out known sin or condemnation, and to have un- 
broken peace. During the early months of 1837 
while at work in New York City "the Lord was 
pleased," he says, "to visit my soul with a great 
refreshing. After a season of great searching 
of heart He brought me, as He has often done, 
into a large place and gave me much of that 
divine sweetness of which President Edwards 
speaks as attained in his own experience." 

This second work was followed six years 
later by one still greater. In 1843, while he 
was conducting a revival in Boston, the Lord 
gave his soul, he says, "a very thorough over- 
hauling." He spent the days throughout the 
winter in little else than searching the Scrip- 
tures on the question of personal holiness and 
in praying. He had a great struggle to conse- 
crate himself to God in a higher sense than lie 
had ever before felt obligatory or possible. His 
;wif e was in feeble health and he found difficulty 

75 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

in giving her up unqualifiedly to God. But vic- 
tory came at length. Tlie infinitely blessed and 
perfect will of God was welcomed in all its 
length and breadth, followed by a most complete 
rest in that will. He says: "My mind settled 
into a perfect stillness. My confidence in God 
was perfect, my acceptance of His will was per- 
fect, and my mind was as calm as heaven. At 
times I could not realize that I had ever before 
been truly in communion with God." A joyous 
freedom and buoyancy came to him that was 
new: also light on and delight in the word of 
God, a steadiness of faith and an overflowing 
love. 

One other experience may be mentioned that 
carried him still deeper into God. A few years 
after this his beloved wife died, and, though 
without conscious resistance to God's will, as 
he thought, he fell into great sorrow that was 
almost overwhelming. But soon the Lord 
showed him that if he really loved her, not for 
himself but for her own sake and for God's sake, 
her happiness in the Lord would make him re- 
joice in her joy instead of mourning so selfishly. 
This produced an instantaneous change in his 

76 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS 

whole state of mind. From that moment sor- 
row on account of his loss was gone forever. 
He was able to enter into the very state of 
mind in which she was in heaven and to com- 
mune with her there, to participate in a pro- 
found, unbroken rest in the perfect will of God, 
the union with His will, which she was experi- 
encing. Thus heavenly-mindedness and bless- 
edness in the largest sense was his. 

Dwight Lyman Moody. 

Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899), who had 
such glorious witness borne him, both by his 
works and by the words of those who best knew 
him, as one who lived for the glory of God and 
the spread of the gospel, got his first great 
quickening for labor at Chicago in 1860, a few 
years after his conversion in Boston. In the 
great Sunday school of which he was Superin- 
tendent there was a class of utterly frivolous 
girls. Their teacher was obliged to give up the 
class and leave the city under sentence of death, 
bleeding at the lungs. But he had a strong de- 
sire to win his class for Christ before he bade 
them good-bye. So he and Mr. Moody took a 

77 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

carriage and went from house to house, and at 
the end of ten days the last of the girls had 
yielded to the pleadings of their dying teacher. 
He had to leave the next day. So that evening 
Mr. Moody called the class together for a prayer 
meeting, and there, he says, ' ' God kindled a fire 
in my soul that has never gone out. The height 
of my ambition had been to be a successful mer- 
chant, and if I had known that that meeting was 
going to take that ambition out of me I might 
not have gone. But how many times I have 
thanked God since for that meeting ! As I went 
from it I said to myself, '0 God, let me die 
rather than lose the blessing I have received 
to-night.' " He did not lose it, but, on the con- 
trary, added to it many others. Not all are re- 
corded, but special mention is made in his biog- 
raphy of no less than five as the years went on. 
One came on his first visit to Great Britain 
in 1867. There he heard words which, his son 
says, marked the beginning of a new era in his 
life. They were uttered by Mr. Henry Varley, 
and were as follows : "The world has yet to see 
what God will do with and for and in and by 
and through a man who is fully consecrated to 

78 



A FEW EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS 

Him." This was not true, for God had already 
shown through Wesley, as well as through 
others, what He could do with men entirely 
given up to His service. Nevertheless, it made 
a great impression on the mind of Mr. Moody. 
He reflected: "He did not say a great man, nor 
a learned man, nor a rich man, nor a wise man, 
nor an eloquent man, but simply a man. I am 
a man, and it lies with the man himself whether 
or not he will make that entire and full conse- 
cration. I will try my best to be that man." 
The impression was deepened by another re- 
mark made by Mr. Bewley, of Dublin, who in- 
quired if he was "all and 0," meaning all 
out and out for Jesus. From that time for- 
ward, says the biographer, "the endeavor to be 
and for Christ was supreme." 

It was not very long after this when another 
epoch in Mr. Moody *s experience was marked 
by his intercourse with Henry Morehouse, 
whose acquaintance he made in Dublin and who 
came over to Chicago to preach for Mr. Moody 
in the Church he had there established, preach- 
ing for seven successive nights on the one text, 
"God so loved the world." A specially sweet 

79 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

baptism of love seems to have been the re- 
sult. 

Again in 1871 came a crisis which meant 
very much to him. An intense hunger and 
thirst for spiritual power was aroused in him 
by two women who used to attend his meetings 
and sit in the front seat. He could see by the 
expression on their faces that they were pray- 
ing. They told him that they were praying for 
him, because he needed the power of the Spirit 
and an anointing for special service. They 
talked and prayed with him. He says: " There 
come a great hunger into my soul. I did not 
know what it was. I began to cry out as I never 
did before. I really felt that I did not want to 
live if I could not have this power for service.' ' 
While he was in this mental and spiritual con- 
dition Chicago was laid in ashes by the big fire. 
He worked hard to repair the losses, but, he 
says: "My heart was not in the work of beg- 
ging. I was crying all the time that God would 
fill me with His Spirit. Well, one day in the 
city of New York — what a day! — I can not 
describe it, I seldom refer to it ; it is almost too 
sacred an experience to name. I can only say 

80 



A FEW EXPEEIENCES OF OTHEES 

that God revealed Himself to me and I had such 
an experience of His love that I had to ask Him 
to stay His hand. The blessing came upon 
me suddenly like a flash of lightning. I was 
filled with a sense of God's goodness, and felt 
as though I could take the whole world to my 
heart. I went to preaching again. The sermons 
were not different : I did not present new truths, 
and yet hundreds were converted. I would not 
now be placed back where I was before that 
blessed experience if you should give me all the 
world — it would be as the small dust of the bal- 
ance. Since then I have never lost assurance 
that I am walking in communion with God, and 
I have a joy in His service that sustains me and 
makes it easy work. I believe I was an older 
man then than I am now : I have been growing 
younger ever since. I used to be very tired 
when preaching three times a week ; now I can 
preach five times a day and never get tired at 
all. I have done three times the work I did be- 
fore, and it gets better and better every year. 
It is so easy to do a thing when love prompts 
you." 

In the next year, 1872, he was in England 

6 81 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

again, and attended tlie Mildmay Conference 
in London. He thus records his impression of 
the Eev. "William Pennef ather, founder of Mild- 
may : "I well remember seeing the beloved Mr. 
Pennef a ther's face, illuminated as it were with 
heaven's light. I do n't think that I can recall 
a word that he said, but the whole atmosphere 
of the man breathed holiness, and I got then a 
lift and impetus in the Christian life that I have 
never lost, and I believe the impression will re- 
main with me to my dying day. I thank God 
that I saw and spoke with that holy man : no one 
could see him without the consciousness that he 
lived in the presence of God." 

One other special experience is given, which 
occurred much later— in 1892 — when, on his 
voyage from England, he came very near being 
shipwrecked. He found himself in the face of 
that imminent peril, not as calm as he should 
have been, not wholly delivered from the fear 
of death. He writes : "It was the darkest hour 
of my life. I could not endure it. I must have 
relief, and relief came in prayer. God heard 
my cry and enabled me to say from the depth 
of my heart, 'Thy will be done.' Sweet peace 

82 



A FEW EXPEEIENCES OF OTHEES 

came to my soul. Let it be Northfield or 
heaven, it made no difference now." He was 
delivered from all his fears and fell asleep al- 
most immediately. 

If the change that came to him in 1861 shall 
be denominated his second blessing, then it is 
clear that other and perhaps greater blessings, 
especially that in 1871, had to follow for the 
carrying on of the work of God in his soul, and 
that as late as 1892 there was still something to 
be done. "We believe this to be God's usual 
way, revealing the need gradually as the soul 
is best able to bear it and to take advantage of 
the opportunities brought in sight. Most peo- 
ple do not seize these opportunities nor keep 
their hearts open to these calls. But Mr. Moody 
was so deeply desirous of the best things that 
he let slip no chance of spiritual gain. He could 
sincerely say with the Apostle Paul, "To me 
to live is Christ." 

J. Wilbur Chapman. 

The Eev. J. Wilbur Chapman received his 
baptism in a very special way. He had become 
thoroughly discouraged in his work at Bethany 

83 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

Church, Philadelphia, and was writing a letter 
of resignation, when something in a religions 
paper that the Rev. F. B. Meyer had written 
fell under his eye. It pertained to the impor- 
tant difference between onr working for God 
and having God work in and through ns. It 
proved a very effectual word. He saw where 
he had been making a mistake. He threw him- 
self on his face and prayed, "0 God, let it be 
no longer I working for Thee, but from this 
moment Thou working through me. ' ' The Holy 
Spirit came upon him, and his whole life was 
changed. He tore up his letter of resignation. 
He has been a different man ever since. 

Asa Mahan-. 

Two others of the same denominational con- 
nections as the last three must be summoned to 
give their testimony. Asa Mahan (1799-1889), 
President of Oberlin College, soundly converted 
at seventeen, entered on the higher path at 
thirty-five, and walked therein before God in 
cloudless sunlight for fifty-five shining years. 
Two thousand souls were added to the Churches 
in the eighteen years before he knew God more 

84 



A FEW EXPEKIENCES OF OTHERS 

perfectly. Outwardly lie was all right during 
that period, but inwardly was conscious of much 
wrong. Through fear of death he was subject 
to bondage. He felt a lack of some essential 
qualifications for the highest functions of his 
sacred calling. He did not have perfect peace 
nor the "joy unspeakable/ J nor was he "more 
than conqueror." After some years of most 
diligent inquiry and prayer his eyes were 
opened to the way, and, he says: "I entered 
upon the faith life in its true and proper form. 
Then the twilight departed and the full sun- 
light flooded all." "Immediately after my en- 
trance into the brightness of the divine rising 
I became blissfully conscious that all my pro- 
pensities were, by divine grace, put under my 
absolute control, that I was no longer a groan- 
ing captive, but the Lord's free man — free and 
divinely empowered to employ all faculties and 
propensities, physical and mental, as instru- 
ments of righteousness in the divine service." 
"In the inner life there has been during 
these fifty years not as formerly little or no con- 
scious growth, but an increasing knowledge of 
my indwelling God and Savior, and a con- 

85 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

sciously growing meetness for the inheritance 
of the saints in light. Knowledge has a con- 
sciously transforming power, changing the 
moral being into the image of Christ/ ' "My 
entrance into the higher life was attended by 
two important facts — a vast increase of effect- 
ive power in preaching Christ to the impeni- 
tent, and the 'edification of the body of Christ' 
became the leading characteristic and luxury 
of my ministry." "At intervals my joy in God 
becomes so full and overflowing that it seems 
as if the great deep of the mind is being broken 
up. But my peace, quietness, and assurance 
know no interruption. My abiding place is the 
center of the sweet will of my God. Should I be 
asked, 'Have you not sinned during these many 
years?' my reply would be, 'I set up no such 
pretension as that. 9 This I do profess, however, 
that I find grace to serve Christ with a pure 
conscience. I have confidence toward God be- 
cause my heart condemns me not." 

Thomas C. Upham. 

Professor Thomas C. Upham (1799-1872), of 
Bowdoin College, was a prolific writer both of 

86 



A FEW EXPEEIENCES OF OTHEKS 

moral philosophy and spiritual culture, greatly 
benefiting multitudes by bis devotional works. 
He knew well that science of godly living which 
he essayed to teach. Converted at Dartmouth 
College in 1815, he stumbled along in the usual 
way until 1839, when he was led to examine the 
subject of holiness as a matter of personal reali- 
zation. He came to the conclusion that there 
was a duty and privilege there which he had not 
properly attended to; and that there was no 
need of waiting for deliverance, as he had been 
taught, until the point of death. Accordingly, 
he says: "I consecrated myself to God, body 
and spirit, deliberately, voluntarily, and for- 
ever. There was nothing said, nothing written. 
It was a simple volition, a calm unchangeable 
resolution of mind, at purpose silently, irrevoca- 
bly made, such as any Christian is capable of 
making. But simple as it was I regard it as a 
crisis in my moral being. Two almost immedi- 
ate and marked results followed. The one was 
an immediate removal of that sense of condem- 
nation which had followed me for many years ; 
the other was a greatly increased love and 
value for the Bible.' ' 

87 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

A few months afterwards, visiting New: 
York, he came in contact with some deeply pious 
Methodists, and was instructed in the way of 
faith as a sanctifying instrumentality. Thus 
he was led to cease walking by sensible experi- 
ences and commit everything into the hands of 
God. A large degree of victory ensued. He 
calls it "a great moral revolution. I was re- 
moved from the condition of a servant and 
adopted into that of a son. I had no ecstasy, 
but great and abiding peace and consolation." 
This was December 27th. Then followed a more 
specific and solemn consecration, written this 
time. Various other exercises of mind super- 
yened, for he moved carefully and thoroughly. 
But it was not until February 3d that full as- 
surance came and he was able to say with sin- 
cerity and confidence, "I love my Heavenly 
Father with all my soul and with all my 
strength. 9 9 " Aided by divine grace I have been 
able to use this language, which involves, as I 
understand it, the true idea of Christian perfec- 
tion or holiness, both then and ever since.' ' He 
says: "It was a great and decisive mark. I 
was distinctly conscious when I reached it. Mj 

88 



A FEW EXPEEIENCES OF OTHERS 

heart was now purified by the Holy Spirit and 
made right with God. It would be presumption 
to assert positively that I have never in any 
case, or for any length of time in the years 
since, yielded to the tempter's power. But I 
can testify that God has wonderfully preserved 
me. My spiritual life has been a new life. 
There is calm sunshine upon the soul. The 
praise of God is continually upon my lips." 

Forever in their Lord abiding, 
Who can their gladness tell ? 

Within His love forever hiding 
They feel that all is well/* 



89 



CHAPTER THREE. 
STILL MORE EXPERIENCES. 

GEOKGE FOX GEORGE MULLER ADONIRAM JUDSON 

• — HORACE BUSHNELL BENJAMIN M. ADAMS 

MRS. MARY FLETCHER MISS FRANCES R. HAVER- 
GAL MRS. CATHERINE BOOTH MRS. MARY D. 

JAMES MRS. HANNAH W. SMITH. 

So important seems to us this contemplation 
of experience as a preliminary to tlie doctrinal 
portion of our little book, that we invite the 
reader who has enjoyed the ten illustrations of 
the previous chapter to look carefully at ten 
more which speak the same language. 

George Fox. 

In the journal of George Fox (1624-1690), 
founder of the Society of Friends, occurs this 
entry: "I knew Jesus, and He was very pre- 
cious to my soul : but I found something in me 
which would not keep patient and kind. I did 
what I could to keep it down, but it was there. 

90 



STILL MORE EXPERIENCES 

I besought Jesus to do something for me : and 
when I gave Him my will He came into my 
heart, and cast out all that would not be sweet, 
all that would not be kind, all that would not 
be patient : and then He shut the door. ' ' Verily 
there are many ways in which this great truth 
which we are trying to elucidate may be ex- 
pressed ; but it all comes to the same thing. 

George Muller. 

George Muller (1805-1898), who was so mar- 
velously useful in many ways for the greater 
part of the last century, as one item distributing 
eight million dollars which came to him solely 
in answer to prayer for the various institutions 
which God carried on through him, being asked 
the secret of his service said: "There was a day 
when I died, utterly died" — and as he spoke he 
bent lower and lower until he almost touched the, 
floor — "died to George Muller, his opinions, 
preferences, tastes, and will : died to the world, 
its approval or censure : died to the approval or 
blame even of my brethren and friends; and 
since then I have sought only to show myself 
approved unto God." Just when this most sig- 

91 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

nificant death took place we find no account, 
but it is certain that from very near the begin- 
ning of his religious life, in 1825, he was unre- 
servedly given up to God according to the meas- 
ure of his light, and as the light, in response 
to his eager searching, constantly increased, he 
went very steadily forward. His loyalty to 
duty seemed to be ever complete. 

Adonieam Judsost. 

Adoniram Judson (1788-1850), that prince 
of missionaries, called to the foreign field in 
1810, was from that time on so determined to 
please God and Him alone in everything that it 
is not easy to pick out any one particular year 
when he reached the great heights. Nothing 
but completest victory over every besetment 
and perfect union with Christ at all contented 
him. He stopped at nothing, however extreme, 
that seemed to give promise of furthering this 
great end. After the death of his wife, in 1826, 
and his only child not long after, he moved into 
a small cottage which he had built in the woods 
away from the haunts of men that he might de- 
vote himself undistractedly to learning the art 

92 



STILL MOEE EXPEEIENCES 

of real communion with God. He was most 
thoroughly in earnest. He records in his diary 
his belief "in the doctrine of perfect sanctifica- 
tion attainable in this life." He derived much 
help from Madame Guy on 's works, Kempis's 
"Imitation of Christ," William Law's "Chris- 
tian Perfection," and the "Life of Payson." 
It was soon after being helped by them that he 
wrote to a brother missionary: "The land of 
Beulah lies beyond the Valley of the Shadow 
of Death. Many Christians spend all their days 
in a continual bustle doing good. They are too 
busy to find either the valley or Beulah. Let 
us die as soon as possible, and by whatever path 
God shall appoint. And when we are dead to 
the world and nature and self, we shall begin 
to live to God." He did thus die and thus live. 
During the rest of his days he had a loving 
trust in God under the most discouraging cir- 
cumstances, and a supremely disinterested de- 
votedness which he had not known before and 
which is very rarely seen anywhere. 



93 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

Horace Bushstell. 

Horace Bushnell (1802-1876), writing to his 
wife in 1861 from Clifton Springs, speaks of 
"another great stage in my heart's life." 
There were many such stages. His conversion 
was at nineteen. He was restored from back- 
sliding ten years later while a very popular 
tutor at Yale College. In 1848 he had a very 
distinct uplift which his wife calls "the central 
point in his life." It was prepared for by the 
death of his beloved little boy. He became in- 
terested in the writings of Madam Guyon and 
Fenelon. "I believe," he said, "that there is 
a higher and fuller life that can be lived, and 
I set myself to attain it." The great possibil- 
ities of real Christianity unfolded themselves 
more and more to his conception as he studied 
the subject. On an early morning in February 
his wife awoke to hear that the light they had 
waited for more than they that watch for the 
morning, had arisen ! ' ' What have you seen ? ' ' 
she asked. He replied, ' ' The gospel. ' ' It came 
to him as an inspiration, a revelation from the 
mind of God Himself. He calls it "an inward 

94 



STILL MOEE EXPEEIENCES 

personal discovery of Christ. ' ' He immediately 
embodied his new experience in a sermon from 
the text, " Until Christ be formed in you." 

"That he regarded this as a crisis in his 
spiritual life," writes his wife, "is evident from 
his not unfrequent reference to it among his 
Christian friends. Even as late as 1871, when 
we were alone one evening, the conversation 
led back to this familiar subject. In answer to 
a question he said: "I seemed to pass a bound- 
ary. I had never been very legal in my Chris- 
tian life, but now I passed from those partial 
seeings, glimpses, and doubts into a clearer 
knowledge of God, and into His inspirations, 
which I have never wholly lost. The change 
was into faith — a sense of the freeness of God 
and the ease of approach to Him. Faith I found 
to be not the committing of one's thought in 
assent to any proposition, but the trusting of 
one's being to a Being, there to be rested, kept, 
guided, molded, governed, and possessed for- 
ever. It gives you God, fills you with God in 
immediate experimental knowledge, puts you in 
possession of all there is in Him, and allows 
you to be invested with His character itself." 

95 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

It was a very great change, as many indications 
show, making a new man of him, investing him 
with a divine panoply, opening his whole being 
to the light, and giving to his relations with 
God the warmth and glow of personal friend- 
ship, enabling him to " spiritually discern spir- 
itual things/ 9 

Benjamin M. Adams. 

Benjamin M. Adams (1824-1902) was an ex- 
ceedingly shining saint who loved the Lord with 
all his heart and gave his long life with un- 
interrupted devotion to the service of his Mas- 
ter. There was a time not very long after 
1848, the date of his admission to the Meth- 
odist ministry, when, as he said, " Benjamin 
M. Adams died. It took me about six hours 
to get to the bottom of things that day." When 
questioned as to whether he had ever sinned, 
his reply was, "0 yes, many a time very likely: 
I fail and have times of great humiliation be- 
fore God; I am hot-blooded; but I have never 
stopped a second after I have had the convic- 
tion that I have grieved the Holy Spirit with- 
out hurrying to the blood of Jesus Christ." 

96 



STILL MORE EXPERIENCES 

"The souls of men," lie said, "get on to- 
wards God, as a rule, by a series of crises." 
This was evidently his own experience, as it 
has been of nearly all others who have made 
any large advancements. They have gone to 
what they thought was the bottom of things 
in their soul-searching and self-surrender, and 
achieved great victories; and then, as devel- 
opment has proceeded, they have found other 
deeper bottoms which needed attention, and 
reached other consequent exaltations. 

He made no high pretensions, was not 
pledged to any particular set of terms or shib- 
boleths. "I never have professed Christian 
holiness or being filled with the Spirit," he 
said. He called himself just a seeker; but he 
declared, "I have found something that has 
made me gay." He combined saintliness with 
sanity to an uncommon degree. He had both 
a burning heart and a discerning head. He gave 
a good deal of time to prayer, finding the closet 
a place of inspiration and recuperation. He 
was ever on the line of discovery, enthusiastic, 
fresh and vigorous of soul, loving yet mani- 
festly masculine, cheerful, hopeful, dear to God 

7 97 



THE PEBFECT LIFE 

and intimate with him, yet a man of affairs, 
carrying the divine presence ever out into the 
world which he did his best to make over after 
the pattern showed him in the mount. 

Mbs. Mary Fletcher. 

It would be inexcusable not to include in 
this illustrious and illustrative list at least a 
few women. Mrs. Mary Fletcher (1739-1815) 
was the peer of any in spiritual attainment, 
taking high rank in the calendar of the deeply 
devoted. She had unusual advantages (among 
them the companionship and instruction of her 
saintly husband) and she improved them well. 
She combined in a marvelous degree the con- 
templative and the active life. She spent her 
abundant means almost wholly upon others. 
She had large mental powers and a well-bal- 
anced judgment, as well as great sweetness, 
maturity, and completeness of Christian char- 
acter. Her standard of attainment was very 
high, and constantly advancing. She never ac- 
cepted special terms as though they were the 
main thing, or were indeed of any particular 
importance. She was never satisfied with her- 

98 



STILL MOEE EXPERIENCES 

self or with what she had reached, but was 
always stretching on for something more. 

During the great 1762 revival among the 
Methodist societies of London she entered into 
a wonderful peace, and had a very blessed ex- 
perience of heart purity. She called it after- 
ward "a low degree of pure love," and said of 
it at a subsequent period, when she knew more 
about the way, "The salvation I experienced 
at Hoxton was certainly a drop from the liv- 
ing fountain, but I had not then a full dis- 
covery of sin." She came to see, as so many 
others have done, that God reveals Himself, 
and ourselves, to us gradually as we are able 
to endure it, and what may seem complete at 
the time is afterwards shown to need much 
addition. Her conscience was extremely sensi- 
tive to little infractions of the perfect law, small 
departures from the closest possible walk with 
God, failures to keep the tongue in perfect or- 
der amid the hurrying distractions of busy 
days, touches of pride and tokens of impa- 
tience, and the remains of self in various forms. 
Her self -accusations, her longings for greater 
things were most frequent, and continued to 

99 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

the very close of her long life. The very last 
entry in her journal, September 27, 1815, runs 
to this effect: "I am filled with mercies, but I 
want to be filled with holiness. show Thy 
lovely face. Draw me more close to Thyself. 
I wait for closer union. The Lord helps me 
wonderfully. for entire holiness." This was 
the constant tenor of her soul for fifty years, 
with little variation or abatement. 

Here are some of her expressions: "0 Lord 
give me the power to keep every thought stayed 
on Thee. " "I have not perfect union with God. 
I am determined never to rest short of it. I see 
I ought to receive everything that occurs more 
immediately from the hand of God." "It is 
perhaps a minute before I enter into the gra- 
cious design. I want such an habitual look to 
the Lord as shall enable me to receive humilia- 
tions as a hungry man does his food." "My 
spirit pants after God. I want a constant death 
of my own will. Lord, show me how to walk 
thus." "I abide in Christ. I am always ac- 
cepted. I feel nothing contrary to love. Yet 
am far from what I ought to be." "I want so 
to put on the Lord Jesus that my God may 

100 



STILL MOEE EXPEEIENCES 

look and love His image there. There is a 
closer communion which I have not. Lord, take 
away whatever stands between.'' "I am now 
in my sixty-fourth year, almost at the end of 
my race; and the great work of entire con- 
formity to God is yet to be gained." 

It never was gained in any such sense but 
that she felt there was more to follow, a more 
perfect oneness with the Savior possible, a 
deeper sinking into the ever blessed will of God, 
a stronger faith, a prompter recognition and 
heartier embracing of God's hand in all, a de- 
votedness more adequate. She was a pattern 
not only of outward good works but of inward 
sanctity rarely equalled in all those early days 
of pristine Methodist power; but her eye was 
so firmly fixed on Jesus and the completest con- 
ceivable attainable approach to His spotless 
purity that all she had gained seemed hardly 
worth mentioning. Is not this the position most 
likely to yield the best results in character? 

Miss Feances Bidley Havekgal. 

Miss Havergal (1836-1879) owed her en- 
trance upon the fullness of divine love to the 

101 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

reception, in November, 1873, of a penny tract 
entitled "All for Jesus.' ' It arrested her at- 
tention. She wrote to the author, and in re- 
sponse to her letter he said a few words on 
the power of Jesus to keep those who abide in 
Him from falling, and on the continually pres- 
ent power of the blood to save, according to 
John 1:7, "Cleanseth." Joyfully she replied, 
"I see it all, and I have the blessing.' ' 

This surely was simple, but it made a very 
wonderful change. In her own words, ' ' It lifted 
my whole life into sunshine; all which I had 
previously experienced was but as pale and 
passing April gleams compared with the full- 
ness of summer glory." Henceforward her 
peace and joy flowed onwards, deepening and 
widening under the teaching of the Holy Ghost* 
Her surrender was never retracted, but it was 
constantly renewed and revised in the contin- 
ual endeavor to keep the consecration full up 
to the ever-increasing light. Thus there was 
a very blessed and almost uninterrupted prog- 
ress as she pressed toward the mark. She 
said, "There may be a fuller surrender, even 
long after a surrender has once or many times 

102 



STILL MORE EXPERIENCES 

before been made." "One wants to have more 
and more light : one does not shrink from pain- 
ful discoveries of evil because one so wants to 
have the unknown depths of it cleansed as well 
as what comes to the surface." 

It was in this way that God carried on His 
work with her, by gradual disclosures as she 
was able to improve them. There were times 
when she felt that her watchfulness had not 
been quite perfect, that the eye of faith had 
wandered for a moment at least from Jesus, 
when there had been a less ready and hearty 
response than there should have been to some 
unexpected and trying requirement of the Mas- 
ter, when there was a less eager searching to 
know and pressing on to do the whole will of 
God than was possible, when through some re- 
missness or rashness or half-unconscious self- 
seeking or evil-speaking or inward fretting the 
close communion had been a little clouded as 
He withdrew the perfect brightness of His shin- 
ing, and some small spot or wrinkle had marred 
the snowy robe of complete righteousness. She 
could not always feel as sure as she wished 
that the temptation to spiritual pride had not 

103 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

met with, some slight consent, and so partaken 
a little of the nature of sin. Her sensitive con- 
science and strict self -judgment led her, as it 
did Mrs, Fletcher, to set down several accusa- 
tions of this sort against herself in the course 
of her correspondence. 

She did not count herself to have reached 
perfection. She was ready to confess that the 
full continual draughts of shadowless com- 
munion which she believed possible she did not 
possess, and occasionally there were humbling 
revelations of failure in fullest consecration. 
It was not till August, 1878, that God showed 
her the inconsistency of a Christian's retain- 
ing a large amount of superfluous jewelry 
while the heathen were perishing for the gospel. 
And not till two or three months before her 
death did she take any decided stand, or do 
any work, for the cause of total abstinence. 

But very rare and brief were the pauses in 
the triumphant onward march of her Christian 
character. She could write, "I do trust Him 
utterly and fully, as if I could not help trusting 
Him." "I have not one regret or quiver of 
longing for anything but what He appoints. He 

104 



STILL MOEE EXPEKIENCES 

hath done all things well. How sure we are 
of that." " There seems no room for the word 
disappointment in the happy life of entire trust 
in Jesus and satisfaction with His perfect and 
glorious will." "Is it not delicious to know 
that He chooses every bit of our work, and 
orders every moment of our waiting? What a 
Master we have!" "I have not a fear, or a 
doubt, or a care, or a shadow of a shadow upon 
the sunshine of my heart. Every day brings 
some quite new cause for praise." I never 
feel eager even for usefulness now; it is hap- 
pier to leave it all to Him, and I always pray, 
'Use me, Lord, or not use me, just as Thou 
wilt/ " "Splendid to be so near the gates of 
Heaven; so beautiful to go," were among her 
last words. 

Mrs. Catherine Booth 

Mrs. Booth (1829-1890), mother of the Sal- 
vation Army, must be accounted one of the very 
foremost Christian workers of the nineteenth 
century. It was in 1861, sixteen years after 
a clear conversion, that her ardent soul, ever 
on the stretch for fuller conformity to the Di- 

105 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

vine will, began to struggle definitely for the 
specific attainment of the second blessing. She 
went through a fierce conflict before she could 
be entirely certain that everything was on the 
altar. Her faith was able at length to take hold 
with firmness, and the bars of unbelief that 
kept her from complete deliverance were burst. 
"From that moment," she says, "I have dared 
to reckon myself dead indeed unto sin and alive 
unto God through Jesus Christ my Lord." 
Not much rapturous joy came, but perfect peace 
was given and she entered into a rest which 
remained. 

Writing of it a little later she says, "When 
I made the surrender I did it whole heartedly, 
and ever since I have been like another being." 
Again she says : " As soon as I was ready to say 
with reference to giving up my husband to be- 
ing an evangelist, 'Lord, if it kills me I will do 
it,' I entered into rest. I see more than ever 
that the religion that is pleasing to God con- 
sists in doing and enduring His will, rather 
than in good sentiments and feelings." 

She was a mighty warrior for the truth 
and a marvelous winner of souls. Love con- 

106 



STILL MOKE EXPEEIENCES 

trolled her wholly. She greatly resembled 
Jesus. Self was put last or lost to view; the 
Kingdom of God was ever first. Among the 
chosen few who follow the Lord fully and de- 
vote all their powers to saving their fellows 
she will ever take high rank. But she made 
no claim to be leading a perfect life. "Who can 
when there is entire honesty? She writes at 
various times: "0, I continually come short. 
I want Madame Guy on 's faith and self-renun- 
ciation. I do so deeply deplore my own failures 
compared with what I might have been. I wish 
I had always trusted and never been afraid. 

for a faith that quails not before any of the 

1 whys' of feeling or reason or of the devil, but 
goes calmly on through the darkest Calvary 
unmoved. Pray for me." 

Mrs. Mary D. James. 

Mrs. James (1810-1883) had an experience 
in some ways very similar to that of Mrs. 
Booth. She had a rarely symmetrical Christian 
character, and led so beautiful a life, so con- 
stantly hid with Christ in God, that observers 
called it ideal. Soundly converted before she 

107 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

was eleven, when not much over twelve, being 
well instructed by a fully saved pastor, she 
was able to write in her diary : ' ' Glory to God 
in the highest ! He has heard my prayers, and 
this night my soul rejoices in that perfect love 
which casteth out fear. how happy I am!" 
It seems to have been a very complete work 
so far as the necessarily imperfect light of the 
time extended. And she continually renewed 
her consecration as fuller knowledge was 
vouchsafed. 

She wrote, late in life, "I am more and 
more persuaded that our advancement in holi- 
ness depends greatly upon the continual deny- 
ing of self, and that in proportion as we crucify 
self and relinquish our own will, will the grace 
of God live and grow in us." She never pro- 
fessed to be "sinless" or "holy" or "perfect," 
her son and biographer says, but loved, on all 
occasions when she thought it would honor the 
Master, to confess that Jesus saved her com- 
pletely and filled her with His love. 

There was a constant reaching forward tp 
a more and more intimate walk with the Master. 
She writes, "Q, there is a fullness to which I 

108 



STILL MOKE EXPEEIENCES 

have not yet attained, to which, my soul as- 
pires continually." "It is wonderful how self- 
will remains concealed sometimes, and we think 
it is gone and that we are all the Lord's, when 
suddenly something occurs to arouse the hid- 
den enemy, and lo, he makes his appearance 
again and we are surprised to find he still 
lives.' ' She fully understood that it is not pos- 
sible until we are fully tested to know precisely 
where we are. "Suffering the loss of all things 
when realized," she wrote, "is very different 
from the mere contemplation of such a trial." 
At times she was obliged to confess that say- 
ing, "Thy will be done" in the face of great 
sorrows was harder than she had expected. 
"My poor heart had a struggle, but victory 
came very soon, and the song of praise was 
again on my lips." She went forward con- 
stantly, her closing years being her best. Her 
lifelong motto, "All for Jesus," came to mean 
at the last a very different thing from what it 
did at the first. 



109 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

Mrs. Hannah Whitall Smith. 

Mrs. Smith (1832-1910), whose "The Chris- 
tian's Secret of a Happy Life" and other 
books have been so wonderfully blessed to vast 
multitudes, knew well what she was writing 
about. Brought up in the Society of Friends 
and unmistakably converted at twenty-four, she 
had the usual period of inward conflict and in- 
termittency of triumph, when her life was felt 
to be largely a failure. She writes : "I began to 
long after holiness. I began to groan under the 
bondage to sin in which I was still held. My 
whole heart panted after entire conformity to 
the will of God and unhindered communion with 
Him." In this time of need, 1863, she was led 
into the company of some who had a bright 
experience. When she asked them their secret, 
they replied, "It is simply in ceasing from all 
efforts of our own and in trusting the Lord 
to make us holy." This greatly astonished her, 
and it was some time before she could grasp 
this beautiful simplicity. 

She still toiled on to make herself better 
in the way of legality and works. For a long 

110 



STILL MORE EXPERIENCES 

time unbelief shut her out from the promised 
land. But by and by when explaining the way 
of salvation to a young man in great darkness 
about his sins she saw that the Lord was as 
worthy of her confidence as He was of that of 
the sinner for pardon. So the last barrier was 
broken down. "I trusted Him utterly and en- 
tirely. I took Him for my Savior from the 
daily power of sin with as naked a faith as I 
once took Him for my Savior from its guilt. 
I believed the truth that He was my practical 
sanctification as well as my justification, and 
that He not only could save me and would save 
me, but that He did. JThe Lord Jesus Christ be- 
came my personal Savior and my soul found 
rest at last ; and such a rest that no words can 
describe it — rest from all its legal strivings, 
rest from all its weary conflicts, rest from all 
its bitter failures. The secret of holiness was 
revealed to me, and that secret was Christ. 
Daily my faith grew and I was able to appre- 
hend more and more of that for which I was 
apprehended of Christ Jesus. And according 
to my faith I have found it done unto me ever 
since. Not that there are no conflicts. Ah, no ! 

Ill 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

But the battle is no longer mine, but Christ's. 
I have to keep a continual spirit of surrender 
and trust, and have tried to be obedient to 
the best light I knew. When I have failed it 
has been the result of either disobedience or 
lack of faith, and it has needed only a return 
to the place of perfect surrender and entire 
trust to restore my soul again to its place of 
rest. To say, 'Thy will be done' seems to me 
more and more the sweetest song of the soul. 
The deepest longings of my whole being are 
met and satisfied in God. He is enough.' ' 

And these twenty experiences, perhaps, are 
enough, although very many more might be 
added — Jonathan Edwards, Edward Payson, 
David Brainerd, Frederick William Faber, 
Frederick William Eobertson, General Charles 
George Gordon, General Thomas J. Jackson, 
Prof. Henry Drummond, Hugh Price Hughes, 
and others of this sort. But it is not needful 
that we further multiply examples of God's 
abounding grace and somewhat varying meth- 
ods. JThese thus mentioned are, of course, but 
a very small section of a very large host whose 
testimony would be substantially the same. We 

112 



STILL MOKE EXPERIENCES 

liave culled and set down these that the hearts 
and minds of both the writer and the readers 
of this book may thus be the better prepared 
for the chapters that shall follow. 

We will not, therefore, take any special pains 
just here to draw conclusions from them ; save 
to say that a few things are very manifest. 
Amid much variety of temperament, denomina- 
tional training, individual peculiarities of edu- 
cation, age, sex, etc., certain movements of the 
soul recur again and again. The truth is ap- 
prehended, hunger awakened, desire intensified, 
consecration effected, faith exercised, peace re- 
ceived, rich blessings enjoyed, and activities 
redoubled. These people were eminent for their 
good works, their great usefulness. They as- 
cribe it largely to the wondrous grace of God 
wrought upon them and for them in the special 
way described. "Without that they would have 
been very different. With that they were en- 
dowed with wealth untold. 

It will be noticed that only a part of those 
mentioned were Methodists, rather a small part. 
And it must be confessed that not as many 
Methodists of high place have become in these 

8 113 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

later days popularly identified with this ex- 
perience as might fairly be expected from our 
history, and as would be very desirable. There 
is doubtless a reason, which will in part appear 
as we go on. Whatsoever it be, we can but 
think our Church would be immeasurably the 
gainer if once more it should become common 
that those having the most extensive influence 
could and would speak out clearly and boldly 
as to their own personal possession of this 
larger grace. If our ecclesiastical, editorial, 
educational leaders would show a pronounced 
leadership in this matter also, how blessed and 
glorious would be the results! 



114 



CHAPTEE FOUR 

THE LOWEE AND THE HIGHEE PATHS. 

It is denied by some that any such division of 
the followers of Christ into two classes as is 
indicated in the above heading is justified by 
Scripture, reason, or experience. So far as 
experience goes it may be sufficient to refer 
to the narrations in the two previous chapters, 
where those who are amply qualified to bear 
witness, as every one must admit, declare that 
they passed, by a very distinct transition, from 
a lower to a higher plane of living, and found 
in it much larger power and enjoyment. And 
thousands upon thousands of others, a vast 
multitude, it is well known, give similar testi- 
mony, and bear out their words by their deeds 
in such manner that it would seem the veriest 
folly to question their assertion. They have 
no motive to deceive, nor is there any likeli- 

115 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

hood that they are deceived as to so simple a 
mater of consciousness. Here, then, is an ulti- 
mate fact which can not possibly be ignored 
or, by honest minds, disparaged. Its explana- 
tion in reason will be taken up later. A few 
words concerning the Scripture basis for it may 
be in place just here. 

Full admission should be made that certain 
technical and theological terms, which have 
come into vogue in these later days to differ- 
entiate the more zealous or steadfast and the 
more languid or lukewarm sort of Christians, 
were not used in the first century records of 
the Church. This need not surprise or trouble 
us. Conditions then were very different, of 
course, in many ways from what they are now. 
Theological dogmas had not been so fully for- 
mulated. A variety of refinements in speech 
and distinctions in doctrine, found useful in 
modern times, were then unknown. Each age 
has its own categories of thought, its own forms 
of expression. Why should it be counted in any 
degree singular that those adopted in one period 
are not quite the same as those familiar to an- 
other? Why should we be expected to restrict 

116 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

ourselves, in this particular, to the usage of 
another day, or be confined to any stereotyped 
phrases ? The same Holy Spirit is with us now 
that was with the people of God in former times, 
and will not fail to give to those who seek His 
aid words profitable for instruction in right- 
eousness. 

Nevertheless, we do see, in the letters of the 
Apostle Paul to the Churches which he estab- 
lished or superintended, a variety of indica- 
tions, all perhaps which could be expected under 
the circumstances, that at least two pretty dis- 
tinct classes among believers were present to 
his mind and were found within the circle of his 
observation. Attention may be called, for ex- 
ample, to a significant passage in 2 Timothy 
2:20, 21, which reads thus: "Now in a great 
house there are not only vessels of gold and 
of silver, but also of wood and of earth; some 
unto honor and some unto dishonor. If a man 
therefore purge himself from these he shall be 
a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for 
the Master's use, prepared unto every good 
work." The meaning would seem to be, ac- 
cording to the context, that in the Church there 

117 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

were some persons corresponding to gold and 
silver, others corresponding to wood and earth, 
and if a man purified himself from youthful 
lusts and worldly desires, from profane bab- 
blings and iniquity in general of every kind, 
he would be "a vessel unto honor,' ' equipped 
for service and "furnished completely unto 
every good work." "Which is exactly the case 
to-day. Some do thus purge or purify them- 
selves; others do not; making two well-defined 
classes. 

Another passage of weight is in 1 Cor. 3 : 1-3, 
where the apostle is obliged to rebuke the con- 
verts of that Grecian city for their jealousies 
and strifes, their manifestations of consider- 
able remaining carnality. They were but 
"babes in Christ," he said, not "spiritual" in 
any full or large sense, needing still a milk 
diet, not yet able to bear the solid food, the 
"wisdom" which it was his delight to speak 
"among them that are full grown." Similar 
to this are the words in Heb. 5 : 11-14, where 
the author complains that those to whom he 
writes are yet pupils or learners, and dull ones 
at that, when they ought by this time to be 

118 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

much further advanced, capable of teaching. 
He exhorts them to " press on," from the in- 
fantile or milk-drinking state unto "full 
growth" where they would be able to compre- 
hend the deeper truths of salvation and impart 
them to others, "that ye be not sluggish, but 
imitators of them who through faith and pa- 
tience inherit the promises" (6:1, 12). Here, 
then, are surely two classes, spiritual infants 
and spiritual adults, which are plentifully re- 
produced in the Churches of to-day. 

There are traces also in Rom. 8; 2 Cor. 6, 
and Gal. 4 — "As many as are led by the Spirit 
of God they are the sons of God," "Come ye 
out from among them and be ye separate, and 
touch no unclean thing, and ye shall be to me 
sons and daughters" — that there was in the 
apostle's mind a distinction between servants 
and sons, applying to many in the Church, the 
former having turned back more or less "to 
the weak and beggarly elements" of bondage, 
the Spirit no longer crying "Father" clearly 
in their hearts, or leading them out into the 
glorious liberty which was their rightful por- 
tion as "joint heirs with Christ." 

119 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

Much more might be made of this, we are 
persuaded, but we are not disposed to press 
the point unduly or strain it in the least. It 
does not seem to us to be a matter of primary 
importance whether Paul and other New Testa- 
ment writers found it needful to emphasize in 
their peculiar circumstances a twofold or three- 
fold distinction or classification among the dis- 
ciples whom they were trying to instruct and 
stimulate. If we find the facts bear us out in 
making this distinction now, and it is proved 
to be a useful and convenient one, why need 
we search anxiously for a precedent thousands 
of years ago; any more than in some of our 
ecclesiastical regulations which we deem the 
modern Church fully competent to manage as 
it thinks best? Now, as in other days, wisdom 
is justified by her works. Sufficient warrant 
for a custom is found in its excellent fruits. 

This whole matter of terms is one needing 
very careful consideration. We know of noth- 
ing that has wrought more serious harm to 
the spiritual life of the Church than the in- 
accuracy and indeed the utter recklessness 
;whieh has so long prevailed in regard to this* 

120 



THE LOWEE AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

Among the very greatest hindrances at the pres- 
ent time to an active campaign for highest holi- 
ness is the prejudice which has been aroused, 
somewhat warrantably, by the injudicious and 
incorrect use of language concerning the sub- 
ject. This obstacle constantly rears itself di- 
rectly across the path, and is a very formidable 
one. People of standing and of education have 
become unwilling to identify themselves pub- 
licly with a movement which has been so largely 
characterized by inconsistencies, contradictions, 
fanaticisms, distortions of Scripture, and per- 
versities of speech. If may be that they have 
been over-sensitive about this, that they have 
not themselves taken the pains that they ought 
to rescue the glorious doctrine from abuse or 
misrepresentation, that they should have been 
bolder in asserting an intelligent leadership at 
this point, in rebuking evil and championing 
good, in breaking away from the past and strik- 
ing out a better line of procedure. This is 
quite likely. But the fact remains that there 
has been, and still is, this barrier here of huge 
proportions. Whether it can be removed is 
still to be seen. We fear it will take a good 

121 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

while ; it is, however, well worth not one effort 
alone, but many efforts. 

It has been common with most writers on 
this theme either to profess openly an entire 
indifference to terms and definitions, or, at any 
rate, to exhibit such indifference in their prac- 
tice. They have often said plainly that they 
made no distinction between one word and an- 
other. They have still of tener showed that they 
had taken no pains whatever to discriminate 
carefully in their expressions, that they re- 
garded nice shades of meaning and accurate 
terminology as quite beside the purpose, or im- 
possible, and at least not likely to be appreci- 
ated by those for whom they wrote. Let us 
not say that they themselves were quite often 
incapable of such appreciation, or would have 
found ruin to their theories had they attempted 
such discrimination. However this may be, the 
result most unfortunately has been a hodge- 
podge, a medley, a muddle, a mixture, a jumble, 
"confusion worse confounded/ 9 which it is a 
sore trial to read, and which has naturally 
alienated those most important to conciliate or 
influence. Some have read and been stumbled, 

122 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

Others have been so disgusted by the general 
impressions which have been conveyed that they 
have refused to read. And no one who has 
deeply at heart the promotion of the spirit- 
uality of the Church can be otherwise than 
exceedingly grieved at such an outcome and 
condition. 

Some examples ought probably to be given 
here in this matter of wrong nomenclature. 
Although our primary purpose in this volume 
is by no means controversy or criticism, yet 
a little of the latter is often indispensable in 
clearing the way for truth. Let us look, then, 
at the word sanctification, one of the common- 
est employed. It is a Latin word, sanctify be- 
ing the equivalent of the English, make holy. 
It is a Scripture word, and hence can hardly 
be cast aside altogether. It is also a theolog- 
ical word, and hence much mixed up with vary- 
ing schools of thought and interpretation. It 
has gathered around it in the course of dis- 
cussion a great variety of associations, some 
pleasant, some quite otherwise. It means one 
thing to one man, a very different thing to an- 
other. One esteems it a banner of beauty and 

123 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

peace, another esteems it a battleflag of dis- 
pute and contention. All of which, would seem 
to show that it should be used sparingly, heed- 
fully, with due regard to its origin, its Biblical 
connotations, and its practical suggestions; 
also, so far as possible, to avoid confusion and 
needless strife, with a single meaning. 

This has by no means been done. It would 
almost look as though great pains had been 
taken to do just the opposite. For instance, 
even a cursory examination of the apostolic 
letters shows most clearly that the term the 
sanctified — together with its synonyms, holy 
ones and saints — is applied freely to those who 
are styled "brethren,' ' "believers,' ' "disci- 
ples," and "the Church of God." The two 
classes of words are put in habitual apposition, 
so as to leave no doubt whatever in the matter. 
Any one who will turn over the pages of his 
new Testament, especially with a Concordance, 
Greek or English, preferably the former, can 
easily satisfy himself as to this. There can 
be no possible honest difference of opinion about 
it. Easily consulted by all, for one thing, are 
the introductions to Paul's epistles. They tell 

124 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

a perfectly plain story. The first letter to the 
Corinthians, for example, is addressed "unto 
the Church of God which is at Corinth, even 
them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called 
to be saints.' ' The second letter is similarly 
addressed, "Unto the Church of God which is 
at Corinth, with all the saints which are in 
the whole of Achaia." Other inscriptions are, 
"To the saints which are at Ephesus and the 
faithful in Christ Jesus;" "To all the saints 
in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi;" "To 
the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which 
are at Colosse;" "To all that are in Rome, 
beloved of God, called to be saints." 

A passage of great significance in fixing 
the meaning is 1 Cor. 6 : 11, where the apostle, 
writing to the Corinthian Church, says, "But 
ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye 
were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus 
Christ and in the Spirit of our God," making 
these three terms, as the connection shows, only 
different expressions or aspects of the work 
wrought upon them and for them when they 
passed out of the kingdom of darkness into 
the kingdom of light. 

125 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

Another decisive passage is EpH. 4:11-15, 
where the various Gospel agencies — apostles, 
prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers — are 
said to be "for the perfecting of the saints 
(or holy ones) unto the work of ministering, 
unto the building up of the body of Christ ; till 
we all attain . . . unto a full-grown man, unto 
the measure of the stature of the fullness of 
Christ ; that we may be no longer children, but 
speaking truth in love, may grow up in all 
things into Him which is the head, even 
Christ/ 9 "Saints" or holy ones, here, as in 
other places means nothing else but the body 
of Christ, that is, the Church, whose members 
are to be perfected or built up in knowledge and 
faith by the earnest labor of those appointed 
over them, until they shall have passed out of 
the children's class into the full maturity of 
growth. It hardly seems needful further to 
multiply special examples. The usage is prac- 
tically uniform. 

All this means, of course, that if we base 
our use of the word at all upon the New Testa- 
ment, as we would seem in honor bound to do, 
since Christian theology has its roots in the 

126 



THE LOWEB AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

Christian Scriptures, we have no right to em- 
ploy it exclusively for indicating an advanced 
stage of experience to which only a very small 
part of God's children attain. To do so would 
be to make scores of passages of Scripture 
meaningless or, what is worse, to give them a 
false meaning. Every principle of honesty and 
right reason demands that we employ the word 
in our current theological discussion in such a 
way as to promote, instead of preventing, a cor- 
rect understanding of the Bible. Hence we are 
shut up to such a meaning of the #erm as will 
not exclude any of those who are members of 
God's family, washed in the blood of the Lamb, 
and entitled to the inheritance of the saved. 
The Bible position unquestionably is that all 
who are justified are also sanctified, but not en- 
tirely sanctified. 

It is precisely the same with the words holy 
and holiness, the Saxon equivalents of saintly 
and saintliness. "Holiness" is constantly 
linked with such terms as "godliness" and 
"righteousness," and is used interchangeably 
with them. See Luke 1:5; Eph. 4 : 24 ; 2 Peter 
3:11. We are bidden to "follow peace with 

127 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

all men and holiness ('the sanctification' the 
E. V. puts it) without which, no man shall see 
the Lord." "We are to be established in holi- 
ness (1 Thess. 3: 13), we are to "perfect holi- 
ness in the fear of God" (2 Cor. 7:1); and an 
expression substantially the same is that in 
1 Thess. 5: 23, "the very God of peace sanctify 
you wholly." Both these last texts, it is clear, 
assume that the Thessalonian and Corinthian 
converts, in spite of their many faults and 
their manifest immaturity, were, by the very 
fact of their Christian standing, their new birtH 
of the Holy Ghost, possessors of holiness, or 
persons already sanctified, and were expected 
to set themselves to go on toward a perfection 
or entirety not yet reached. 

One with difficulty sees how even a tyro, 
the proverbial "wayfaring man," could go 
astray on so plain a path. Nevertheless, for 
some reason or other — let us hope a good rea- 
son, right in its purpose, however mistaken 
and mischievous in its consequences — it has 
come to be the settled habit in Methodism, a 
habit which began at the very start and has 
continued to the present day, to ignore all this 

128 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

and employ the words "sanctification" and 
"holiness" as indicating a very advanced state 
of grace, something altogether distinct from 
that possessed by the mass of believers, how- 
ever truly they are children of God and born 
from above. Even where there has been a 
forced and rare acknowledgment that these 
words ought not to be used for such an ad- 
vanced state without the qualifying adjectives 
"entire" or "perfect," there has been almost 
immediately a total ignoring of the acknowl- 
edgment, and a systematic repetition of the 
offense without apology or care. From such 
tactics, such larcenous appropriation by a spe- 
cial class in the Church of a word belonging to 
the whole Church, there could be but one result. 
The special class has taken possession of a great 
body of texts not belonging to it, and the Church 
as a whole has immensely suffered from the 
loss of these texts, while a very precious doc- 
trine has been mangled almost beyond recogni- 
tion, put into false relations with other truth 
and brought into disrepute with many who 
otherwise would be its friends. Of the pro- 
priety or honesty of such tactics it would seem 
9 129 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

there could be but one opinion, and that a very 
adverse one. 

Examples of the bad practice of misusing 
these words could be given from standard Meth- 
odist writers, even those most highly esteemed, 
ad hominem and ad nauseam,, almost without 
number were there any profit in such a pro- 
cedure; and the Methodist writers have been 
followed, alas, by the Methodist public in these 
usages of speech. But it is needless to quote 
when everybody can supply the instances for 
himself. Perhaps it is also needless to in- 
quire the reason for this custom whose evil con- 
sequences have been so manifest. One can but 
suspect there is something more at the bottom 
of it than mere convenience and preference of 
the shorter to the longer phrase. Has there not 
been a more or less conscious feeling that " en- 
tire' ' and "perfect" did not really belong as 
designations to the lives of those who had made 
this forward or upward step, that they were 
only after all normal Christians of the New 
Testament pattern, in no proper sense of the 
term to be counted perfect, but only determined 
to follow the Lord fully as best they knew? It 

130 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

had been easier, less scandal-bringing, less of- 
fensive, less absurd, to declare themselves holy 
and sanctified (which they really were, of 
course) than to profess that they were perfectly 
holy and entirely sanctified, which they clearly 
were not. Hence the substitution of the simple 
words, with some increase, perhaps, of per- 
sonal satisfaction and consistency, but with sad 
results to the consistency of the doctrine. There 
will be no possibility of either placing the doc- 
trine on a right foundation or of effectually 
promoting the practical experience until there 
is a better adjustment of the terminology.* 

It is very evident, then, that "justified" and 
"sanctified" will never do to designate those 
in the two distinct stages of the Christian life, 
for both words apply to all who are converted. 
I have put at the head of this chapter the words 
"lower and higher paths," not as being the 
only ones suitable for such designation, but as 

* It seema to be very hard for the unthinking to discriminate 
between giving np a term and giving up the thing for which, in 
their minds, that term has stood. They know only their own lan- 
guage (and but a small portion of that) and can not see that a rose 
by any other name would smell as sweet and be the same. So one 
has to have much patience at this point, and declare with almost 
endless repetition that, in saying all true believers in Christ are 
Scripturally holy, one does not mean that they are perfectly holy 
or that there is no such thing as a second change very desirable. 

131 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

being unobjectionable, somewhat Wesleyan, and 
sufficiently appropriate. Like all other terms 
they will need definition or description. It may 
be well, as a preliminary to this, briefly to sum- 
marize or review the course which the soul 
takes in its upward movement. 

The infant, as soon as it finds itself or comes 
to consciousness at all, is aware of certain ap- 
petencies which clamor for gratification. They 
pertain to his physical being, and are necessary 
for his sustenance. He does not at first know 
but that they may be gratified at will under 
all circumstances. No fault pertains to him 
for their fullest indulgence. They thus get into 
a way of such indulgence very early, before 
any intimation can come to him that they will 
have need sometimes to be checked or denied. 
This habit of indulgence is also strengthened, 
we fairly infer, from inherited ancestral traits, 
his forebears from time immemorial having 
been much given to letting their appetites and 
passions have large license. So he comes into 
the world at a double disadvantage, in that his 
lower nature gets the start of the higher, and 
is furthermore unduly empowered against that 

132 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

higher by the fact that those who are responsi- 
ble for his being did not take all the pains they 
•should to keep the higher on top. Thus handi- 
capped for the moral race, when conscience be- 
gins to assert itself, when reason finds a voice, 
he is very sure to disregard these better voices, 
at least for a season and to a certain extent. 
We call this sin.* 

That abnormal and disordered condition of 
the child *s being which comes to him by inherit- 
ance we call depravity. This will be more or 
less developed according to circumstances. In 
other words, some will begin life at a greater 
disadvantage than others because of more 
wicked ancestry. But it will be their misfor- 
tune, not their fault. No guilt attaches to us 
because of what some one else has done, be- 
cause of something which we could not help. 
Nor is it ever best or strictly proper to connect 

* It will be observed that in this book we speak very sparingly 
if at all about sin in the abstract or sin personified. We deem it not 
a little dangerous so to do, and liable to breed confusion. It seems 
to us better to speak of sins and sinning, keeping the word to this 
active sense, and not mixing it up with that state of the soul which 
is properly called depravity. Sin begins with the misuse of free- 
dom; begins now just where it must have begun in the life of the 
race. There is a nature capable of temptation, there is an appeal of 
the tempter to that nature, and there is a yielding of the will to 
that temptation, or a preference of self-indulgence to the will of 
God. This is sin. 

133 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

the word sin with this inherited depravity. It 
has been, indeed, called by ancient theologians 
"inbred sin" and "original sin," but that was 
in the time when men were supposed to be, in 
some mysterious way, actually guilty because 
of what their forefathers did. The old terms 
have no pertinency now, and are only a stum- 
bling block which should be rigidly ruled out. 
They will not be used in this book. 

Depravity will need to be used not a little, 
but it should be clearly understood that we mean 
by it, not wickedness or moral degeneracy or 
sinful corruption, but that perversion of our 
nature, that derangement and disorder of its 
parts, whereby the bias is unduly toward self- 
gratification. There is not the equilibrium so 
much to be desired, and which we may suppose 
there would have been had our ancestors never 
sinned. Through the incoming of sin the pas- 
sions and appetites obtained a predominance 
which they did not before possess and were not 
entitled to have, so that there is an evil strain 
imparted to the common stream of life, a pre- 
disposition to wrong. Powerful tendencies to 
evil, that is to the undue gratification of self, 

134 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

became involved, and, following the regular law 
of natural descent whereby like begets like, be- 
came hereditary. Thus we inherit an organiza- 
tion somewhat abnormal or irregular. 

By depravity, let it be further noted, we 
designate not so much a state as a tendency, 
present in some degree in all men, varying in 
intensity according to the various stages of 
progress in the Christian life. It is an inherit- 
ance of evil reaching back to the remotest past 
and making itself felt in every age. All theo- 
logians recognize it, and every individual is 
affected by it throughout his life. It is the re- 
sult of a very long course of wrong action, the 
application to moral conduct and condition of 
the law of habit and inheritance. The deterio- 
ration resulting from past persistence in evil 
affects all sides of human nature, even the phy- 
sical and intellectual. The propensities are 
blunted, the feelings lose their sensitiveness, 
and the will is weakened so there is not the 
prompt response to the call of duty, the enthusi- 
asm for goodness, the quick recognition of right, 
which there should be. 

At first, of course, this depravity is rudi- 
135 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

mentary and germinal. The infant is hardly 
more than a cluster of receptive capacities and 
active impulses, a bunch of animal propensi- 
ties, without any moral character whatever. 
He differs from the mere animal, or from other 
animals, in that he has a latent capacity for such 
character, a constitution that, when developed, 
will lay hold of moral distinctions and make 
moral choices. And this moral constitution, 
while certainly not sinful, is just as certainly 
wrong, or wrung, or twisted, or unhinged, so 
that it will inevitably show a bent toward sin 
when the opportunity arises. No fault or guilt, 
that is no personal sin, (be it well noted) ac- 
crues until the child, arriving at years of ac- 
countability, voluntarily yields to the pressure 
of this tendency and transgresses some known 
commandment of God or dictate of right. It is 
not the presence of the appetencies or impulses 
inciting to evil which brings condemnation, but 
either a deliberate cherishing of the incitement 
or a failure to make effort for the removal or 
lessening of the presence after conviction has 
been wrought that it may and should be re- 
moved or lessened. 

136 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

Sooner or later the child, having come to 
know good and evil, to know something of the 
love of God and the bliss, or at least the reason- 
ableness and rightfulness, the safety and peace, 
of obeying Him decides, we will suppose, to be 
His. This occurs usually in the years of ado- 
lescence,* in the early teens, and we call the 
change that takes place conversion or regenera- 
tion. By this we mean that the new life of love 
divine, life in fellowship with God, is initiated, 
and made more or less predominant. Regener- 
ation may be defined as such an invigoration of 
the moral faculties as enables the soul to con- 
trol all its tendencies to selfish gratification so 
that it can overcome all temptation, and thus 
keep from sinning against God. The whole 
nature is affected for good : the sensibilities are 
quickened toward God, the intellect is illumi- 
nated as to righteousness, the will is energized 
for duty; the stream of tendency toward evil is 
checked by the strong counteracting influence 
of the new principle which now becomes the 

* It is undoubtedly true that a child may and sometimes does, 
at a much earlier age, under Christian environments and wise nur- 
ture in a godly home, respond to the gentle influences of the Holy 
Spirit, accept Christ as soon as known, and thus never come into a 
state of conscious antagonism to God. But this is exceptional 
(more so than it ought to be) and need not be dwelt upon here. 

137 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

governing one. The internal disarrangement 
and disorder is to some degree repaired, the 
balance partially restored. No new elements 
are added to the soul : none of the old ones are 
subtracted or extracted. There is a larger ap- 
proach to harmony among them, through the 
re-enforcement of the powers that should con- 
trol, and the weakening of those that rebelled 
against rightful authority. The spiritual part 
now holds in subjection the animal part, so that 
sin no longer has dominion over us, no longer 
reigns, making us to obey the lusts thereof. 
We are made free from the rule of sin, becom- 
ing "servants of righteousness," "servants to 
God," as the apostle so well explains in Eomans 
6, saying, "Our old man was crucified with Him 
that the body of sin might be done away, so 
that we should no longer be in bondage to sin." 
In other words the trend of our life is radically 
changed, the movement is reversed. The su- 
preme influence is now heavenly instead of 
earthly, the preponderant tendencies are toward 
God and righteousness.* 

♦The definition of conversion given by Prof. William James in 
his " Varieties of Religious Experience," is worth noting: "The 
process— gradual or sudden— whereby the self hitherto divided and 

138 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

There is thus a radical change called the 
new birth, but, as we have intimated, it greatly 
differs in extent and strength in individuals. 
Every one must have noticed the fact. Every 
one may not have inquired for the cause. Why 
is not the same effect produced in every case, 
since it is the same Divine agent who operates ? 
Can His work ever be anything else than per- 
fect? Yes, it can, and must, when He has to 
work in co-operation with man. At least the 
joint result of the divine and human labor (the 
conversion, broadly taken, is just that) will be 
imperfect, so long as the human factor is im- 
perfect. If God were the single agent con- 
cerned, then no doubt all sinful self would be 
driven out, and the perfect image of Christ 
formed within. But such agent He is not. His 
method of salvation for men, since they are re- 
sponsible beings endowed with freedom of will 
and put in charge of their own destiny, requires 
in all its parts their active agency. Hence God 
is limited and restricted by the imperfect ca- 
pacities and powers of the human factor with 

consciously wrong, inferior, and unhappy, becomes unified, con- 
sciously superior and happy, in consequence of Its firmer hold upon 
religious realities." 

139 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

whom, as well as upon whom, He works. God 
is not able to do what He would like for man 
because of the latter 's weakness and disability, 
so long as man's co-operation is less than ab- 
solutely perfect. 

This disability greatly varies in different 
persons, and from this fact arises the great 
variety of results obtained at conversion. Some 
are more greatly changed than others, not, of 
course, because they have a more powerful Sav- 
ior, but because they prove more responsive to 
His power, and are more successful in adjust- 
ing themselves to the conditions of His grace. 
Those conditions are repentance and faith, or 
surrender and trust, springing out of the ap- 
prehension of the personal love of God. Some 
do this far more clearly and fully than others, 
and the effect produced corresponds. If the 
sinner's powers were such that he could per- 
fectly apprehend the love of God, even as Christ 
did, then he would become a perfect representa- 
tive of Christ at once. The celestial influences 
would so continually and mightily flood his en- 
tire being that he would have no more trouble 
with sin and self; the old derangement would be 

140 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

at an end, the perfect balance of powers would 
be restored, and heavenly harmony would reign. 
But the sinner can not do this. He has no 
power sufficient for the perfect apprehension of 
what the Father longs to bestow. So God has to 
content Himself with imparting what the sin- 
ner is able to receive. It may be little, it may 
be much; in no case is it all. The penitent soul 
means well and does well, as well as it can or 
knows how. Otherwise it would not be accepted. 
But because of its necessarily imperfect enlight- 
enment its consecration and faith are imperfect, 
and the corresponding empowerment must be 
imperfect. We are so made that God is obliged 
to proceed in this gradual way with us, leading 
us along step by step as we are able to bear it, 
and able to give an intelligent co-operation of 
our own will to the work of grace. Where a 
person, through exceptional advantages, is 
fitted to receive full gospel enlightenment by 
the Divine Spirit, and that enlightenment is 
followed by a correspondingly thorough conse- 
cration, faith easily grasps large things, and a 
greater work is done than where these condi- 
tions are not met. But in no case is an abso- 

141 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

lutely completed work done, for the simple rea- 
son that in no case can there possibly be an 
absolutely completed enlightenment, together 
with an absolutely completed apprehension of 
the divine love, or an absolutely completed sur- 
render and trust. 

We have already shown that according to 
Scripture, as well as reason, every regenerated 
soul is sanctified, that there are no unholy 
children of God. Regeneration is a finished 
work, done once for all by divine power. The 
figure used (as well as other considerations) 
shuts us up to that conclusion. Sanctification 
is a progressive work. It covers all the prog- 
ress of the divine life toward perfection. It 
is something which may be repeated again and 
again, each succeeding time bringing us into 
closer relation to Christ, giving us a larger 
measure of the divine image. "While regenera- 
tion is the awakening of the life of holy love 
in the soul, sanctification is the carrying on of 
this life, the permeating of the entire person 
with the principles introduced at conversion, 
their steady development and practical appli- 
cation. Sanctification has been well defined 

142 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

as "that continuous operation of the Holy 
Spirit by which the holy disposition imparted 
in regeneration is maintained and strength- 
ened/' The process of restoring the soul to the 
image of God which began at the new birth 
goes right on in the normal Christian, and this 
going on is sanctification. It never becomes a 
past experience, for it is continuous; it has 
many degrees, each of them advancing the soul 
nearer the goal. In regeneration the governing 
principle of the soul is made right, love divine 
becomes dominant, but there still remain re- 
bellious and disturbing tendencies not wholly 
subdued. Hence the conflict between the two 
opposing principles or two natures. In this 
conflict the Christian is enabled by increasing 
faith to make a fuller and fuller appropriation 
of Christ, and as the life of Christ increases, the 
self-life or depravity decreases. At regenera- 
tion the power of sin's disease is broken; tKe 
advance of sanctification is the progress of the 
cure toward absolutely perfect health or whole- 
ness or holiness. It is the bringing of the con- 
version attitude down to date, the bringing of 
ever newer, more recently discovered regions 

143 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

of thought and feeling and action under the 
complete sway of Christ. 

One has entered, then, we will suppose, on 
this new life in Christ — a state which may be 
designated as that of conversion, adoption, re- 
generation, or sanctification with equal propri- 
ety, according as different aspects or elements 
of it are more particularly in view. He has 
given himself to the Lord as best he knew how, 
and purposes to walk in His ways and be a loyal 
subject of King Jesus, fighting evil within and 
without, and keeping from sin. He is more or 
less successful in this effort according to the 
means used, the earnestness exhibited, the 
watchfulness and prayerfulness maintained. 
He will live without blame or guilt so long as 
he retains without interruption the attitude to- 
ward God that he had when his sins were for- 
given and he was received into the Divine Fam- 
ily, the attitude of complete surrender or con- 
secration up to light. This is the only normal 
Christian life, according to the New Testament 
standard. Nothing else is there regarded as 
genuine or worthy of the name. There may 
and must be definite and uniform victory over 

144 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

evil. " Whoso abideth in Him sinneth not." 
The Christian life unquestionably starts out on 
this high level — nothing kept back so far as 
known, and power received by faith to over- 
come temptation. Provision is fully made for 
its remaining there, with justification undimin- 
ished and entire freedom from condemnation. 

But somehow, as men enter practical life 
and encounter the fierce assaults of the ad- 
versary, as the world, the flesh, and the devil 
make their combined attack, there is almost 
always sooner or later, usually before long, a 
dropping down to some degree below the orig- 
inal level. The full consecration up to light 
is not preserved. For the light is continually 
increasing, and unless there is continual prog- 
ress there is a relative backsliding. New rev- 
elation of God's will are made day by day. 
Experience teaches, observation teaches, the 
Bible teaches, the pulpit teaches, the prayer- 
meeting teaches, affliction teaches. Men come 
to know more and more, all the while, the re- 
quirements of God's law and the inclusions of 
God's service. It is their business, their duty, 
their privilege to know more. If they do not 

10 145 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

know more, that very fact indicates a falling 
out of full acceptance. And so, too, if they fail 
to live up to this increasing light they fall out. 
There is no doubt but that they do almost al- 
ways if not quite always fail. It is the common 
course. It may be doubted if there is any one 
who has not for a little at least come into this 
condition, been conscious of more or less swerv- 
ing from the right and yielding to the evil. He 
does not so deliberately sin as to forfeit wholly 
his standing in sonship, but there are some, 
perhaps many, little sins growing out of less- 
ened watchfulness or culpable ignorance or 
permitted, blameworthy weakness ; growing out 
of his inexperience, his ignorance of the ways 
of Satan, the natural bent of his former habits, 
and the unsteadiness of his own partially dis- 
ciplined will; these grieve the Holy Spirit and 
bring him into some condemnation. 

When this condition of relative backsliding, 
failure to keep up with the advancing light, 
dropping down from the pristine level of per- 
fect loyalty, begins to be fully realized, brought 
to the attention sharply, perhaps by some 
greater than usual deflection or aberration, a 

146 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHEE PATHS 

crisis is apt to occur. The parting of the ways 
appears. The lower path and the higher path 
get defined with much clearness. There is an 
awakening, perhaps with a start, to the real 
condition of things, the unsatisfactory, mortify- 
ing condition. There is seen to be danger and 
disgrace. Conscience accuses. Christ's love 
makes appeal. The world attracts. The ques- 
tion of conformity to the one or the other im- 
mediately and urgently presents itself. The 
fight is fairly on. 

It is easy to see why the lower path of 
worldly conformity and spiritual weakness ob- 
tains or retains by far the larger number, why 
the great mass of Church members, and — shall 
we say? — ministers also, elect to walk therein. 
The natural indolence of human nature is, of 
course, wholly on that side. It is only the 
minority of people in any walk of life that 
press to the front, that are capable of persist- 
ent painstaking, that show great earnestness 
and diligence, that have ambitions for the high 
places. The disposition of the majority is to 
take things easily wherever possible, where they 
are not pushed on by some strong, constrain- 

147 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

ing necessity. This operates especially in spir- 
itual things, for there seems in the eyes of 
most no necessity for extraordinary endeavors. 
One has to be rather singular to make them, 
and this acts as a deterrent, for most people 
much prefer to swim with the current and be 
like their neighbors. They have no great 
amount of independence ; they dread the stigma 
of oddity and queerness, they are not made to 
be leaders, they follow with the multitude. 
Lack of clear instruction and edifying example 
from superiors in the pulpit and elsewhere has 
also not a little to do with the general indif- 
ference. Needless opprobrium has been cast 
upon the theme and the way by the terms which 
have been used in connection with the doctrine 
(as we have already indicated), the dissensions 
that have arisen around it, and the practices 
that in some quarters have unhappily attended 
it. From all these causes, and others that might 
be mentioned, the lower path is the popular 
one. 

But the higher path is the Christlike one. 
Let this be thoroughly understood. It has an 
attraction of its own for those nobler natures 

148 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

who want to be like Jesus, who can not think 
it right to tender God a divided service, can 
not be content to receive anything but the best 
which religion has to offer. It is "the more 
excellent way" of love which St. Paul so beau- 
tifully describes. It is the full assurance of 
faith and of hope. There is in it a deeper sat- 
isfaction, a larger bliss, a more abiding peace, 
a fuller contentment, a sweeter rest than can 
be found on the lower levels. It imparts cour- 
age in the face of danger, tranquillity in com- 
motion, independence of the world, indifference 
towards earthly possessions and positions, 
cheerfulness in view of the future triumph 
over every foe. Those in this path find duty 
turned into delight; they have an enthusiastic 
attachment to the Master, which He cordially 
reciprocates; they sing at their tasks because 
He is so close to them as they toil; they are 
not dependent on circumstances and worldly 
amusements for their pleasure. Their obedi- 
ence is not a matter of calculation or hesitation. 
They have settled it once for all that every 
command is to be promptly heeded. They find 
nothing too small to be of importance in the 

149 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

glad service of their King, nothing too hard 
to be welcomed for the sake of Him who ap- 
points it. Constant and intimate is their fel- 
lowship with God and their glad recognition 
of His glorious presence. They live in sun- 
shine, they are cheery, they take their religion 
with relish. They find an ever increasing con- 
formity to the divine will, an ever increasing 
fondness for prayer, and they draw water with 
joy out of all the wells of salvation. 

The existence of the two paths or stages 
or states thus in a general way indicated will 
not, we think, be questioned. Nor as to the 
mode of passage from one to the other is there 
any need of lengthy description. "As ye re- 
ceived Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him" 
(Col. 2:6) is an apostolic direction that fits 
in here very well. The same methods which 
brought one through the first crisis to the glad 
attainment of a place in God's family will 
(properly expanded, intensified, suited to the 
altered conditions) bring one through the sec- 
ond crisis or change to the inner circle of that 
family. Just as there has to be repentance and 
faith, or submission and trust, at the first, so 

150 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

these same conditions appear now. Only now 
there being much larger knowledge, everything 
takes on an added thoroughness or intensity. 
The repentance for sin must go deeper, must 
include the many transgressions that have been 
involved in living, perhaps for many years, 
with a Christian profession on the lips while 
there was not a thoroughly consistent Christian 
practice, while there was a living below ac- 
knowledged privilege and refusing many ad- 
mitted or suspected duties. These sins may 
not be to the outward eye so great as those 
before put away, but to the sensitive con- 
science illuminated by light from the cross they 
will glare most accusingly and heinously. 
Consecration to the Lord can now be a great 
deal more detailed and complete, covering a 
multitude of things not clearly apprehended 
at the outset. The territory of the heart 
and life was in a sense all made over to 
God originally; but it has now been better 
explored, its resources are more fully known, 
and hence a renewed transference of the title 
deeds has much more significance. The un- 
reserved, intelligent, irrevocable surrender af- 

151 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

ter the daily discipline lias revealed what this 
really betokens, carries far greater weight with 
God and with one's own soul. The trust that 
follows based on this deeper, broader dedica- 
tion, the acceptance of God's assurance that 
He accepts that which is given, that He receives 
the penitent offerer who is at the same time 
the offering, inaugurating a new and more ten- 
der relation, and fully empowering Him for all 
the service to which he will be called, will be 
of precisely the same nature as that which first 
ushered in the brightness of the gospel day 
to the seeking suppliant for pardon. The steps 
taken must be the same as in the beginning, 
because that which is now gained is only a 
larger degree of that obtained at the first, and 
God's ways with the soul are always in sub- 
stance the same. 

But God's ways, while substantially the 
same, since He does not change, are not stereo- 
typed and rigid, but modified so far as to adapt 
themselves to the differing phases of human 
nature. We believe the crisis method above 
outlined (sometimes called cataclysmic or par- 
oxysmal) is the usual or normal process under 

152 



THE LOWER AND THE HIGHER PATHS 

the circumstances of average humanity, and 
hence the one to be generally emphasized. But 
we fully recognize that in this second crisis, 
as in the first at conversion, there is a quieter 
way taken by some. Owing to their tempera- 
ment or their training they open out to God 
steadily, almost imperceptively, much as the 
bud grows into the flower, or the full day comes 
out of darkness through slow accretions of 
morning light. Such will have no definite date 
that they can quote for the first deliverance 
or the second, since there has been no marked 
or striking epoch in their case, not so much 
one great decision as a number of smaller, less 
noticeable decisions. But if they give unmis- 
takable proof that either by the one way or 
the other they have obtained the thing desired, 
if they clearly show the life, surely the main 
point is met. There are many noble souls, ex- 
hibiting the fruit of the Spirit in rich maturity, 
who can not point to any one occasion when 
a decisive struggle took place, any turning 
point of startling transition. But it seems to 
us — and we have studied the matter very thor- 
oughly — that this is exceptional, that the best 

153 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

results, taking the whole Church into account, 
are obtained by making a specialty of the crisis 
(even as in getting souls introduced into the 
Kingdom) and pressing believers to the point 
of definite decision as to whether they will leave 
the lower path where they are walking in weak- 
invites their laggard feet and abounds in 
power. 

A happy lot must sure be his — 
The lord, not slave, of things — 

Who values life by what it is, 
And not by what it brings." 



154 



CHAPTEE FIVE. 
PEESSING ON TOWAED THE GOAL. 

When, either by the sudden or the slower 
method, the higher path has been entered upon 
a very important question arises, namely, what 
was the degree of change wrought in the soul by 
the Divine power in answer to the cry of faith ; 
in other words, how much of its depravity was 
removed or cancelled? We have already ex- 
plained that at conversion the results accru- 
ing were exceedingly various, according to the 
degree of co-operation with the Spirit of truth 
which the seeker was able to give, but in no 
case was all depravity taken away because of 
the limitations and disabilities of the human 
factor. We must say precisely the same in 
regard to this second deliverance. It is simply 
another step forward in the same direction as 
the first, and conditioned in the same way on 
the comparative fullness of enlightenment in 

155 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

the mind, the thoroughness of the dedication, 
and the strength of the faith. All these latter, 
though much completer than at the first, still 
come short of perfection, and the result cor- 
responds. The very same reasons which made 
it impossible for God to remove all depravity 
at conversion make it equally impossible for 
Him to do this at the second transformation. 
This simple fact, so strangely overlooked by 
many, is the key to the situation so far as the 
understanding of the correct doctrine is con- 
cerned. If it were a matter wholly of God's 
power, as some imply or state, dependent solely 
on His ability and willingness to do the work, 
then indeed would that work be done at re- 
generation, for the soul at that time puts itself 
completely into God's hands as best it knows 
how to be dealt with as He pleases. The soul 
can be no more willing to be saved at any sub- 
sequent time than it was then; and God, of 
course, can be no more able to save, no more 
powerful. There was only a partial knowledge 
at that time of what it would mean to be the 
Lord's, enough to make a start with, but no 
more; hence, in accordance with God's rule 

156 



PEESSING ON TOWAED THE GOAL 

of working, there could be only a partial em- 
powerment against evil. The knowledge is still 
only in part, and the effective consecration 
strictly accords. It is easy to say, whether at 
conversion or subsequently, "I give to God all 
I know and all I don't know," but that is 
not really doing it. It is only going through an 
empty form. For it is not possible to give with 
thorough effectiveness and fullness of achieve- 
ment that which is only a vague shadowy 
entity, not yet clearly come into consciousness. 
We may declare our purpose to give whenever 
it shall be made known to us, and that has 
value, but it can not be the same as the actual 
gift. It does not appear that in this life at 
least we can ever be sure that we know either 
ourselves or God's requirements with absolute 
completeness, a completeness of knowledge that 
can not be increased. And if this be the case 
then it must be true, since sanctification is de- 
pendent upon consecration as well as upon faith, 
that there is a sense in which that sanctification 
is not absolutely complete in this life. In other 
words, depravity is not entirely cancelled, the 
work of the devil in and upon us is not wholly 

157 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

destroyed, until we have passed out of the 
body.* 

Let it be carefully borne in mind what de- 
pravity. We have referred to it as a disor- 
dered or perverted condition of our powers, 
coming to us in part by inheritance, and in 
nearly all cases more or less increased by our 
own evil choices, a condition where our ap- 
petites and passions have obtained undue 
strength as against reason and conscience, mak- 
ing it much more difficult for us to resist tempta- 
tion than it should be. The whole man, phys- 
ical, mental, and spiritual, has been affected 
by this moral malady. The body is not what 
it would have been but for sin. The lower 



* Many who have received, the second blessing declare with great 
positiveness that they know the work to be absolutely complete 
within them, because they can feel nothing of inbred sin or nothing 
contrary to love. But a very little reflection suffices to show how 
delusive is this test. Consciousness is not capable of any affirma- 
tion as to the quiescent states of the soul, those operations or con- 
ditions which psychology locates in the sub-conscious region, where 
the Holy Spirit is supposed largely to do His work. Moreover, can 
a comparatively ignorant or uninstructed person, unused to scien- 
tific self -measurement and close analysis and unfamiliar probably 
with any theological terms of precision, discriminate with exact- 
ness as to the accurate measure of strength which his tendencies 
toward self-gratification ought to have and compare them correctly 
with ithe measure of strength which they do have? Is there any 
way in which he can authoritatively pronounce on so recondite a 
matter or tell whether or not his temptations find a little more 
response within him than they would normally, or in Jesus, 
awaken? We should say not. 

158 



PRESSING ON TOWARD THE GOAL 

powers and cravings, through over-indulgence, 
make demands not easy to withstand. These 
powers being rooted and seated in the animal 
organs, those are somewhat altered. The blood 
runs more fiercely, the heart and brain work 
less wholesomely, the nerves are at least a little 
discordant. The condition of the system thus 
affected by transgressions past and present, be- 
comes in turn the cause or occasion of further 
transgression. There is, as every one knows, 
a most intimate relation between the mind and 
body. Nothing touches the one without touch- 
ing also the other. The physical impairment 
means that intellect, sensibilities, and will are 
also to some extent impaired. And these latter 
can in no degree deteriorate without making 
an impression upon the former. Every disease 
has certain specific mental effects, readily trace- 
able, as all physicians know. This is most 
clearly seen in such marked maladies as dys- 
pepsia, which produces depression, and con- 
sumption, which produces hopefulness. But 
other diseases also affect us in less manifest 
ways. And no one is perfectly free from all 
disease or in a state of absolutely perfect health. 

159 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

All abnormal physical states, however slight, 
are accompanied by more or less abnormal men- 
tal states, up to pronounced insanity or the 
total overthrow of reason, which is but the re- 
sult of violated laws of health. And these ab- 
normal states have a direct religious bearing. 
So there is a physical basis to the spiritual life. 
It has been truly said, "A man thinks well, 
loves well, prays well because of the red run- 
ning of his blood.' ? In the words of Paul, 
"That is not first which is spiritual, but that 
which is natural; and then that which is spir- 
itual." 

Depravity, then, has a very wide sweep. It 
is because of it, because of the damage, moral 
and spiritual, which the race has suffered that 
we cut so poor a figure upon the scene of ac- 
tion, that we have so many weaknesses and 
make so many blunders. Our manifold infirm- 
ities, as well as our multiplied iniquities, 
spring from this source, with this difference, 
however, that the latter are charged against 
us directly, and the former only in so far as 
we have had power to diminish or destroy 
them. 

160 



PRESSING ON TOWARD THE GOAL 

If we understand depravity as thus compre- 
hensive,* as including whatever differentiates 
us from the perfect man, whatever separates 
us from the whole image of God or from hav- 
ing all the mind that was in Christ, we shall 
see that there are excellent grounds for claim- 
ing that it is not likely to be removed either 
at the second deliverance or any subsequent 
one. Its total removal or absence would mean 
that there was perfect harmony or equilibrium 
among the various powers of the human system, 
none having undue strength or asking more 
than their normal indulgence, that there was 
no longer any faintest trace of rebellion on 
the part of the lower against the higher, that 
the unreasoning instincts, impulses, and pas- 
sions of the man being reduced to their proper 
proportions, act in complete subordination to 
the judgment and obey the smallest monitions 
of conscience, so that with a due degree of 



♦Attention may well be called somewhat sharply and repeat- 
edly to the fact that if this broad meaning of the term depravity 
(the only true meaning, or at least the most suitable meaning, as 
we look at it) be kept clearly, closely in mind, most of the current 
discussions and differences as to the extent of the work wrought in 
response to faith come to an end at once. A little care in definition 
saves nine-tenths of the trouble and shows that there is much more 
real agreement than usually appears. 

11 161 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

watchfulness their perfect control is easy. In 
such a case they could no longer be described 
as evil tendencies or even tendencies to evil, 
but only tendencies to moderate wholesome 
gratification, still capable, of course, of passing 
beyond bounds, but not insisting with unseemly 
clamor on so doing, and not likely so to do. 
There would be no longer a bias in the wrong 
direction, that having been fully counteracted 
and replaced by a habit of obedience. 

All this being kept in mind, the second great 
step upward in the Christian pilgrim 's advance 
heavenward will be neither exaggerated ncr 
minimized, but seen for what it is, a large ac- 
cession of strength, an immensely valuable em- 
powerment, but not one precluding still more 
of the same, an installment, not a finality. A 
large benefit will come from this perception. 
There will be no longer offensive declarations 
and empyrean professions not borne out by 
facts, nor possible so to be. These spring al- 
most always from ignorance and a careless or 
indiscriminate use of terms whose true signifi- 
cance is in no degree comprehended. There 
is usually a good meaning behind them and a 

162 



PEESSING ON TOWAED THE GOAL 

right purpose, on account of which they are 
excused by those who are in sympathy with 
their design. But all who hear are not thus 
in sympathy, and thus great harm is done. In 
view of this harm we suggest that too much 
care can hardly be exercised on this point, that 
while the work of God is by no means to be con- 
cealed, but rather displayed on all proper occa- 
sions that He may be glorified, there are various 
ways of doing it. Some things that are lawful 
and in a sense truthful may not be expedient 
or minister to edification. Our liberty should 
not become, if we can help it, a stumbling block 
to the weak. Our ministration should not be 
blamed through the needless giving of offense. 
These are apostolic injunctions. There is com- 
monly no necessity that we use large words or 
set phrases, particularly if such words and 
phrases have become symbols of partisan war- 
fare or shibboleths that smack of unseemly divi- 
sions, censorious judgments, and unscriptural 
distinctions. If due thought be given it, simple 
expressions may surely be chosen which will 
be far more likely to convey the exact facts 
and have helpful influence. 

163 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

Another very large benefit arising from a 
careful discrimination as to what is gained by 
the second step or epoch will be a clearer open- 
ing of the way for advance to still other needed 
steps or epochs. The type of teaching which 
has been too prevalent in this matter has made 
such a finality at the second step as to hinder 
further progress very seriously. It has not in- 
tended so to do. It has indeed sometimes tried 
to guard against this. But by the necessities 
of the case and the infelicities of its terminol- 
ogy this has been the inevitable effect. It has 
claimed that sanctification was entire, not 
simply entire up to light or knowledge, as was 
the precise fact, but absolutely complete, so that 
there could be no further sanctification, but 
only a very indefinite and hardly intelligible 
"growth." The damage done by this has been 
incalculable. More, perhaps, than any other 
one thing has it checked the advance of Christ's 
chosen ones and dissipated their endeavors. 
Instead of comprehending the blessed fact that 
they were to walk by the same rule and mind 
the same thing as heretofore, pushing forward 
on the upward track by the same means, they 

164 



PKESSING ON TOWARD THE GOAL 

have got the idea that since everything conceiv- 
able was now consecrated and sanctified, and all 
depravity, all selfishness (not merely all that 
had been discerned, but absolutely all) was re- 
moved, there could, of course, never be anything 
more of this sort to do, and there was nothing in 
particular henceforth to aim at. The conse- 
quence has been (not always, but too fre- 
quently) that there was a settling down with 
overmuch self-satisfaction and complacency, not 
to say spiritual pride, as though everything de- 
sirable or doable was now done. The results 
have been deplorable in the extreme. Vast 
numbers, not having any sufficient incentive or 
proper directions about going onward, have 
speedily gone backward, have lost what they 
had received, and brought more or less obloquy 
upon the experience, more rather than less when 
they have most mistakenly continued the pro- 
fession after the practice had fallen off. The 
doctrine has greatly suffered from this unhappy 
condition of affairs. It suffered thus originally 
in Wesley's time, when nearly all lost the bless- 
ing received in the great revival of 1762, but this 
sad fact did not seem to teach the great leader 

165 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

that there was any flaw in his theory; and it has 
gone on so suffering ever since. Does it not 
show that the work is not usually grounded 
in calm reason, and that the philosophy under- 
lying it is not clearly apprehended; that it is 
a matter too largely of vague feeling and tem- 
porary ebullition, with nothing about it by 
which to hold fast? It seems so to us. 

The higher path having now been entered 
upon, with a duly tempered and properly mod- 
est conception of achievements thus far reached 
and a perpetual forward look strongly encour- 
aged, the next thing is to get a clear view of 
the mark or goal it is hoped eventually to at- 
tain, and to make wise choice of the means or 
methods of getting on. Shall we call the goal 
"perfection?" Many have done so; and ab- 
stractly that might seem appropriate, for it 
has an inspiring sound. What can there be so 
beautiful, what can there be beyond it? But 
the word when carefully examined is seen to 
be much encumbered by ambiguity. It can be 
taken, has been taken, in different senses ; and 
it is not easy to tell exactly what it means when 
applied to Christian experience. There have 

166 



PEESSING ON TOWARD THE GOAL 

been many attempts at defining or describing 
it which need not here be quoted, for none of 
them seem very satisfactory, and when com- 
pared they are seen to be contradictory, only 
serving to leave the subject in a mist. The 
explanation, of course, is that there are various 
kinds of perfection; and neither the Biblical 
writers nor those of more modern times have 
restricted themselves to treating one kind only. 
It is frequently taken as a synonym for matu- 
rity, to indicate that a man is fully grown or 
firmly established in upright character, of high 
moral excellence and uncommon integrity. This 
is the general use of the word in Scripture, 
as any one can see who examines the passages.* 
This meaning of the term is loose, vague, 
wholly inexact, hence of no special value in 
theology and very certain to fail us if much 
be expected of it. It has no definite bounds, 



*Here are a few out of many: " Noah was a righteous man and 
perfect in his generations. 1 '— Gen. 6: 9. "Job, a perfect and an upright 
man, one that f eareth God and turneth away from evil."— Job 1 : 8. 
" Mark the perfect man and behold the upright."— Ps. 37: 37. " The 
God of all grace, after that ye have suffered a while, perfect, stab- 
lish, strengthen you."— 1 Peter 5:4. " Let us, as many as are perfect, 
be thus minded."— Phil. 3:15. "Solid food is for full-grown men 
(margin " perfect ")— Heb. 5: 14. " Let us press on unto perfection " 
(margin " full growth ").— Heb. 6: 1. American Revised Version, as 
throughout this book. 

167 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

begins everywhere and ends nowhere. Just 
when is maturity reached? Just what does 
maturity cover? A good deal of knowledge 
and practice of course is implied. It is evident 
that time is required for ripening. But fruit 
when ripe begins to decay, and children when 
grown up stop growing ; whereas in the normal 
Christian experience there is neither decay nor 
stopping. So the figure is but partially ap- 
plicable and pretty sure to mislead. "When we 
are told that Christian perfection is maturity 
we are left entirely in the dark as to most of 
the fundamental questions that surround the 
subject; we are told nothing as to its relation 
to law or to depravity or to love. It is better, 
then, not to use the word now in this sense. 

Perhaps it is better not to use it commonly 
in any sense, since it requires such a deal of 
explaining. But if it must be used because of 
a certain attractiveness and long association, 
there are two meanings, it should be noted, 
which have theological exactness, a lower and 
a higher. There is a relative or comparative 
perfection, and there is an absolute or super- 
lative perfection. He is relatively perfect who 

168 



PEESSING ON TOWAED THE GOAL 

is delivered from the practice of sin, that is, 
from the habit of disobedience to God or de- 
viation from duty, from that which grieves the 
Spirit and defiles or defies the conscience. He 
has, accordingly, no guilt or blameworthiness; 
he is free from condemnation; he has made 
the Divine will, so far as known, his own; he 
fufills all the law which at present is binding 
upon him, and hence may be called, in a very 
intelligible and wholly proper sense, sinless. 
It is a perfection which pertains to every child 
of God once at least in his life, namely, at the 
moment when he becomes such a child. For 
it is universally agreed that a person can not 
have his sins forgiven and be adopted into the 
Divine Family without making a surrender that 
is fully commensurate with his knowledge, with- 
out giving himself up to God the best he knows 
how. His consecration must be complete so far 
as light is granted him. If anything is willfully 
kept back, if there is any conscious disloyalty 
in his heart, he will not be accepted. He must 
be thoroughly willing to do everything that 
God bids him, and so far as it is a present bid- 
ding, he must immediately do it. This is the in- 

169 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

variable condition of justification. The young 
convert is in full and perfect favor with his 
new found Father, and retains this undimin- 
ished sense of approbation so long as he presses 
steadily on, answering promptly and completely 
to every accession of light. And he regains 
this full and perfect favor when, after losing 
it through failure thus to press on, as is al- 
most always the case, he faces the situation 
frankly, confesses his derelictions, makes a new 
deeper dedication, and exercises the appropri- 
ating faith. We have described the process, 
terming it a step up to a higher path or a sec- 
ond deliverance. Such a one may in a fairly 
fitting sense be styled relatively perfect; he 
has perfect sincerity or purity of intention, a 
thorough-going goodness of will. 

The perfection here described is called rel- 
ative because it has strict relation to knowl- 
edge — that is, to the knowledge of God's law 
or will, and what its requirements concerning 
us are. This knowledge may be little or large. 
In the case of most young converts it is prob- 
ably very small. In the case of those who have 
been years in the way it is much larger, al- 

170 



PEESSING ON TOWAKD THE GOAL 

though not as large as it might be. This does 
not matter, so far as the full performance of 
present duty is concerned, for what one does not 
know and can not now know is not duty. Thor- 
ough loyalty and the carrying out of all or- 
ders received meets all demands. Such a one 
will, of course, love God with all his present 
powers, for this also is a part of present duty 
and is the soul's sufficient prompter to complete 
obedience. He will love God with heart and 
soul and mind and strength, to the full extent 
of which he is now capable. His affections will 
not be divided, his allegiance will be unshared 
by anything below the supreme throne. All 
selfishness or evil that is discerned or recog- 
nized to be such by our poorly developed pow- 
ers, injured by our inheritance as well as by our 
personal transgressions, will be resolutely re- 
frained from. Nothing consciously contrary to 
love will be cherished. All that we ought to 
do and nothing that we ought not to do will 
be done. And we shall be all that we ought 
and nothing that we ought not. Such a man 
is perfect in the lower sense. And there is 
certainly a propriety in styling perfect him 

171 



THE PEBFECT LIFE 

who has such power from above that he main- 
tains a state of undiminished fullness of ac- 
ceptance with God, a state of gracious guilt- 
lessness or freedom from condemnation. He 
has attained the normal completeness of his 
class or kind; the normal qualities of the nor- 
mal Christian are possessed by him in suit- 
able, satisfactory fullness. 

But there is a very great difference be- 
tween this man who is perfect in a merely rela- 
tive or comparative sense, and the man who is 
perfect superlatively. The latter is delivered 
not merely from all sin but from all depravity, 
which is an entirely different thing. He is de- 
livered not merely from such selfishness as his 
weakened powers may be able to discern, but 
from all selfishness of every sort as the infi- 
nitely wise God sees it. His love is not merely 
with the enfeebled powers which he may happen 
to have just now as he is, battered and bruised, 
deranged and disordered by sin, but with pow- 
ers from which the disorder has wholly de- 
parted, so that he is fitted to fulfill completely, 
in the largest sense, the object for which he 
was created. He has recovered the whole image 

172 



PEESSING ON TOWARD THE GOAL 

of God, lie has all the mind that was in Christ, 
and he walks uniformly as Christ walked. This 
is a perfection of a distinctly higher order than 
the other. There is no reason for supposing, as 
we have already explained, that it is gained at 
the second stage, or indeed absolutely at any 
subsequent stage in our earthly progress.* 

The goal is complete Christlikeness, "the 
measure of the stature of the fullness of 
Christ." Surely it can be nothing less, noth- 
ing more. And surely he who knows what 
he is talking about, he who is entirely sane, 
will not deliberately claim to have reached this 
goal. He will be content to get a little nearer 
to it each day. He will also be intent on doing 



* As to our progress on the other side, of course our actual knowl- 
edge is very small. But there are probabilities. It does not seem 
likely that death involves or works any sudden or complete change 
in our condition. The life to come (at least until the event fore- 
shadowed in 1 Cor. 15: 24-28, "Then cometh the end," etc.) is only the 
continuing and completing of that begun here. The principles by 
which it is regulated can not differ essentially from those which 
govern our present experience. There must be progress and service 
there, as here. We shall still assimilate spiritual truth, still get 
nearer to the Master. People must enter that other world in the 
state in which they leave this^world. There is no evidence in Scrip- 
ture or elsewhere that in the moment of death God does anything 
momentous for the soul. We shall still go on approximating the 
absolute holiness of God under the same Fatherly care and guidance 
that we have enjoyed here, disciplined further, perhaps, by some of 
the same instrumentalities which helped us here, ever enlarging in 
our capacities to apprehend and serve Him whom we shall see with 
^ver clearer vision. Faith, hope, and love will abide, will last on. 

173 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

just that thing. The goal will in one sense 
recede as he draws nearer to it. The ideal will 
advance, the standard grow greater all the time. 
As we climb one peak a new one not before 
seen, a little higher one, pushes itself up ahead. 
To be entirely like Jesus will mean more to 
us this year than it did last, and it will mean 
more next year than it does this. We shall 
see more and more clearly as we go on that, 
however largely we have been saved, there is 
a still larger salvation opening before us. The 
better a man becomes the more distinctly he 
perceives what he ought to be, and the less 
he is satisfied with what he is. His powers 
of discrimination in matters whose moral na- 
ture is doubtful — referred to by the author of 
the Epistle of the Hebrews where he speaks of 
those who "by reason of use have their senses 
exercised to discern good and evil" (5:14) — 
have a practically unlimited capacity of im- 
provement. There is a continual elevation of 
the ethical and spiritual standard as one goes 
on. The child in intelligence and spiritual ex- 
perience, whether ten years or forty years old, 
knows very little of the nicer distinctions and 

174 



PRESSING ON TOWARD THE GOAL 

finer points in morals. The first principles or 
rudiments of Christianity are all that he is ac- 
quainted with. Milk, and not solid food, has 
been his diet. He is conceited without know- 
ing it. He is obstinate and willful, but calls it 
by an entirely different and much more honor- 
able name. He is full of faults plain to the 
more discerning eye of the better instructed, 
but he is wholly ignorant of them, perhaps even 
considers them virtues and so makes no effort 
whatever for their removal. He is thus a re- 
proach and an offense, doing much harm, though 
very likely deeming himself a " pattern of good 
works.' ' If his eyes become open to the true 
state of the case, or if he begins even to sus- 
pect his deficiencies, he will set himself to study- 
ing things and will commence to grow in a way 
before impossible. His moral discernment will 
become keener and keener, and he will recog- 
nize more and more matters in his past life as 
not being in accordance with the standard of 
perfect righteousness, though hitherto he has 
thought them right. And, as he goes on, many 
of the thoughts and feelings and actions which, 
even now, with his present increased light, seem 

175 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

to call for no change, will begin to show their 
defects under the more powerful illumination 
to which they will be subjected. 

There is another particular also in which 
there lies before us, as long as we are in the 
flesh, an endless opportunity for progress. We 
mean the promptness and heartiness with which 
we assent to or welcome the will of God. "We 
are correct — are we not? — in thinking that an 
angel or a redeemed spirit above unites with 
the Divine will more swiftly, eagerly, absolutely 
than does any one here below ; so that the prayer 
that God's will may be done in us as in heaven 
is one always appropriate for the ripest earthly 
believer, one which he does not outgrow. Must 
it not also be said that the failure to render 
this perfectly prompt and hearty obedience, 
even though our purpose is never so good, in- 
dicates some remaining disorder in our powers, 
shows that perfect harmony there is not yet 
quite restored? There is probably some slight 
lack of perfect watchfulness, some over-occu- 
pation with self, so that we do not recognize 
the will of God, coming in unexpected shapes, 
as quickly as we might. Hence, being for a 

176 



PRESSING ON TOWARD THE GOAL 

small or large moment in doubt what is His 
will, there is a flaw in the perfect promptness 
with which it is seized. It is impossible to 
believe that depravity is all gone as long as 
there is a chance for improvement in the 
promptness and heartiness with which God's 
will is known and done, for this is only another 
way of saying that there is a chance for im- 
provement in our empowerment for service. 
There would seem to be, so far at least as this 
life is concerned, a possibility of unlimited and 
perpetual growth in both these directions. 

May it not, then, be fairly said that we ought 
to spend our life in hopeful efforts to make the 
ever progressive real come nearer and nearer 
to the ever progressive ideal, which must ever 
elude our grasp and yet toward which we must 
ever reach out? It would be a misfortune if 
the real ever actually overtook the ideal, and 
an equal misfortune for us ever to give up 
trying to overtake it. Story, the sculptor, when 
asked which of his works he valued the most, 
replied, "My next." It is said of another art- 
ist, that on finishing a painting he burst into 

tears and explained to the wondering inquirer 
12 177 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

that he had fully reached his ideal and could 
never do better. In a similar spirit we are 
to understand Luther 's saying, "He who is a 
Christian is no Christian. ' ' Also Oliver Crom- 
well ? s inscription in his Bible, "He who ceases 
to be better ceases to be good." Unless we 
are still pursuing goodness we are not really 
good; unless we are on the way to the higher 
kind of perfection we can not be truly enjoy- 
ing perfection of the lower sort. 

We have perhaps sufficiently indicated the 
two kinds of perfection — the lower and the 
higher, deliverance from the commission of sin 
and deliverance from the remains of depravity ; 
blamelessness and f aultlessness, sinlessness and 
Christliness ("every one that is perfect shall be 
as his Master," Luke 6:40) — but, as we said 
before, it is difficult to use the word with much 
satisfaction or frequency in ordinary circum- 
stances because of its varied meanings and the 
impossibility of being readily understood. It 
seems to us wiser not to talk about perfect 
Christians, perfect in this double kind of way, 
but rather to speak of the loyal Christian and 
the ideal Christian. The former would be per- 

178 



PRESSING ON TOWARD THE GOAL 

feet in the lower sense, faithful to his present 
light; the latter would be perfect in the higher 
sense, wholly Christlike. 

Before proceeding to describe the idea] 
Christian more completely in another chapter, 
it may be well to set down here very briefly 
a few directions as to the best methods of 
pressing on toward the goal ; for this will surely 
be a prominent subject of inquiry by every one 
who has entered the higher path. What topic 
can have keener interest for the devout heart? 
And such, we may suppose, is he who reads 
these lines. What more essential than to lose 
no moment of time in this great enterprise? 
How important not to waste any energy or take 
any wrong turning in the journey. The sci- 
ence of saintliness is worthy of all study. Only 
as the spirit and the understanding also are 
brought into play can we serve God with highest 
acceptableness. The arts of holy living should 
be continually practiced. Here are some of 
them: 

1. Be very much in prayer. Whoever wants 
to be uncommonly good must pray with uncom- 
mon fervor and frequency. He must pray, not 

179 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

chiefly to get things "but for the purpose of 
communion. His prayer will be mainly a medi- 
tative, assimilative process. It will be a stead- 
fast, prolonged holding up of his soul to the 
great Sun of Eighteousness, that upon him, as 
upon a sensitive plate, may be stamped the 
image divine. It will mean recollectedness of 
spirit and the staying of the mind on God so 
that His presence will be perpetually realized. 
It will burst forth at odd moments and fill up 
the intervals of other occupations. It will be 
counted a rare pleasure and a priceless privi- 
lege, the delight of the days and the solace of 
the nights. 

2. Eead the best books ; the Bible, of course, 
primarily, but not that alone. There are others 
that we can almost as little afford to neglect. 
The masters in spiritual things, who, while they 
have drawn their nutriment largely from the 
Scripture, have put it into forms more closely 
adapted to modern life, who have applied all 
the powers of their being to ferreting out the 
secrets of holiness and happiness, who have 
communed with the Lord so closely that He has 
whispered to them matters not generally known 

180 



PEESSING ON TOWAED THE GOAL 

— these fervent and foremost saints have put 
themselves on record for our instruction, and 
we should be extremely unwise did we begrudge 
the expenditure either of time or money in 
availing ourselves of their help. 

3. Pick company with all carefulness. Asso- 
ciations of the right sort when one talks, as well 
as one reads, are essential and invaluable. The 
living men and women that we move among 
must be those that will help, not hinder, in our 
quest for holier attainment. Christian fellow- 
ship is very important and very sweet. We 
must make much of it, for we inevitably be- 
come like those with whom we mingle. Mix as 
often as possible with those whose hearts are 
set on Christlikeness. Ask them questions, 
listen to their experience, look into their faces, 
and catch the blessed contagion of their up- 
lifted spirits. 

4. Be familiar with the best hymns and spir- 
itual songs. They contain much help. It is 
well to pick out a few of the very richest and 
finest of these and repeat them daily, or nightly, 
drawing from them new food and strength with 
each repetition. Or use one for a whole week 

181 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

until it is fully committed and absorbed, then 
select another for the following week. The soul 
should pour itself forth in praise, availing itself 
of the forms which other minds have struck out 
at their highest pitch of inspiration. The com- 
bined tides of poetry and melody will sweep the 
spirit on and up over every sort of obstacle. 
A hymn is a wing, and when matched with suit- 
able music it mightily aids the soul to soar. 

5. Use the pen or pencil as a means of con- 
centrating attention, provoking thought, formu- 
lating purpose, and preserving valuable reflec- 
tions. Beading in this way has double benefit. 
Truth is thus held vividly before the mind until 
it sinks deep into the soul and profoundly af- 
fects the life. Self-examination also — a thing 
which can by no means be dispensed with, al- 
though it may be carried too far, and is not un- 
attended with danger — is aided by writing. 

6. Cultivate a devout habit of speech, and 
avoid those careless and current expressions 
which shut out the active agency of God from 
affairs, whether it be with reference to the 
weather or the changes too frequently attrib- 
uted to "luck," "chance," and "fortune," good 

182 



PEESSING ON TOWAED THE GOAL 

or bad. God may and should be honored con- 
tinually with our lips. It is a pity to lose any 
opportunity for thus doing, and for testifying 
that our Father rules in all the affairs of men. 
"Take the name of Jesus with you," and let 
it sound forth continually. 

7. Behold God's hand in everything, taking 
all from Him, doing all for Him. Deal directly 
with Him at all times, not with subordinate 
agents and secondary instrumentalities. He 
who heartily accepts the blessed will of the 
Heavenly Father which comes to us each mo- 
ment through events, has mastered the secret 
of a perfectly happy life. He knows that God 
reigns, and feels that all is well. He finds his 
pleasure in the will of God, and finds the will 
of God in all events. He thus has independ- 
ence of circumstances, and enjoyment under all 
conditions. Thus he sings and is content, sure 
that all in love is meant. 

8. Be in dead earnest after the best. Do 
not be content with being simply a little better. 
Put first things first. Do not shilly-shally. In- 
tensity is demanded. Let there be enthusiasm 
in this calling if anywhere. Eesolve to have a 

183 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

burning heart, a dedicated soul, a shining face, 
an open hand, a fire-proof faith, an unfaltering 
trust, and a sublime devotion to the highest 
ideals. 

9. Follow the Spirit's promptings promptly. 
Listen to His gentle voice with all possible 
eagerness. Hush whatever clamor of earthli- 
ness might deaden the soul. Cultivate sen- 
sitiveness to the whispers of the Divine Friend. 
Have a heart swift to obey. Do not delay or 
wait to be spoken to by God a second time. 
Buy up the opportunity quickly, that you may 
be a successful merchant in sacred matters, and 
daily dearer to Christ. 

10. Insist always on a warmer and warmer 
devotion to Christ, which means a lessened at- 
tachment to the world. The sweetest and most 
precious thing we can possess is a close per- 
sonal friendship with the Savior. It may be 
cherished and increased from week to week, 
until the expressions of fond endearment that 
once perhaps seemed over-hot find full response 
in our soul. Only when the simple words, 
" Jesus is mine," mean more and more to us 
day by day, only when He is taking an ever 

184 



PEESSING ON TOWARD THE GOAL 

larger place in our life, coming into closer re- 
lations with us, being better understood and 
more deeply loved all the time, can we be sure 
that we are really growing and getting on to- 
ward the goal. 

All common things, each day's events, 
That with the day begin and end, 

Our pleasures and our discontents, 

Are rounds by which we may ascend." 



185 



CHAPTER SIX. 
THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN. 

It is plain that the ideal Christian will possess 
and exhibit a great deal more than loyalty. The 
element of knowledge enters very extensively 
into his make-up. It is good, with the loyal 
Christian, to mean well: it is better, with the 
ideal Christian, to do well. It is not always re- 
membered that there is a double standard of 
rectitude, one for the action as well as one for 
the actor. The moral character of the actor is 
decided by his intention. The moral quality of 
the action is decided by its consequences. While 
actions are right or wrong, persons alone can 
be innocent or guilty, holy or sinful. They are 
such according as they do or refuse to do their 
duties, the good which is within their power. 
This distinction is of the utmost consequence, 
for, if properly observed, it would carry a torch 
through much of the darkness that has en- 

186 



^HE IDEAL CHEISTIAN 

shrouded the whole subject of Christian perfec- 
tion. 

The standard of absolute and abstract right, 
the ideal standard, is the same the wide uni- 
verse through and for all time. The standard 
of concrete personal duty changes from day to 
day, and for each individual. In other words, 
there are certain acts or courses of conduct 
which are according to the mind of God, and for 
the highest well-being of creation. They are 
such as God Himself, with His perfect knowl- 
edge, would do, and which He must of necessity 
be best pleased to have done by others. These 
actions are said to have absolute rightness or 
conformity to the ideal. And in this sense 
every action, no matter how small, has a moral 
quality, a certain measure of conformity or dis- 
conformity to the unchanging law of God. 
[There is, then, such a thing as morally perfect 
conduct. God has a will or law with reference 
to actions as well as persons. To satisfy that 
law is to satisfy the ethical nature of God, His 
sense of what is just and right and beautiful 
and good; and only one set of actions will do 
this. But He will be satisfied with persons, so 

187 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

far as not condemning them goes, when they 
do the best they can under present circum- 
stances, and with all their limitations. 

To put it a little differently, there is a real 
or material rectitude, grounded in the nature of 
God, which is permanent, and has objective en- 
tity entirely independent of all personal con- 
siderations; this is sometimes called "objective 
holiness." There is also a rightness of form 
which is entirely subjective and dependent 
wholly on the will or motive of the agent: this 
is sometimes called "subjective holiness.' ' A 
man may be in right volitional relations who 
is not altogether in right ethical or rational re- 
lations. A right or innocent actor may do a 
wrong action. His mistakes may be condoned 
because of his unavoidable ignorance; but his 
deeds are not to be justified as having been in 
themselves best. He may have done the best 
he knew or could know ; but his knowledge may 
have been so very small that great harm re- 
sulted. He may have followed his convictions 
of duty, sincerely thinking he was doing service 
acceptable to heaven, and thus be free from 
condemnation for what he did; while at the 

188 



THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN 

same time lie entirely misconceived what was in 
the mind of God. 

It is a duty to be always formally or inten- 
tionally right and to have just as much of ma- 
terial or absolute rightness as possible. It is 
our business to come as near to the ideal each 
moment as may be within our power. Good in- 
tentions are not enough to constitute a perfect 
character in the highest sense of the term, such 
as we should set before ourselves and others 
for a model. The man of low mentality, small 
sympathy, and dense ignorance, a dolt, a dunce, 
a boor, an imbecile, a savage, however good his 
intentions, can have but little likeness to Christ, 
but little loveliness of life, or genuine useful- 
ness. It is not sufficient for all purposes that 
we be formally right or true to our convictions 
of duty, whatever those may be. We must also, 
to be ideal, be really or materially right, that is, 
in harmony with reality and its laws. He, then, 
who simply does the best he knows may be do- 
ing a great many wrong things ; that is, he may 
fail to do the things that are called for by the 
circumstances in which he is put: the things 
which would be followed by the best conse- 

189 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

quences measured by the good of all concerned : 
the things which accord with God's perfect will 
and which Jesus, the perfect man, would do in 
his place. He will not get good results from 
his life, any more than the blundering farmer 
will get good crops, or the uninstructed, un- 
practiced mechanic will turn out a good job. 
He may be saved himself, "so as through fire;" 
but he shall suffer loss, and his work, not abid- 
ing the test, shall be burned. The child that 
tries to help its mother in sewing, but through 
lack of skill only makes a botch, may win a 
smile or a caress because the bungling attempt 
sprang from love ; but the work will have to be 
picked out, the garment possibly has been 
spoiled, and the child for many a year will not 
be classed as a perfect seamstress. In the same 
way a child can not be a perfect Christian in 
the higher sense of that term. Christianity has 
positive contents, just as farming or tailoring 
has. It is made up of certain virtues, which vir- 
tues were perfectly exemplified in the Founder 
of the religion, Jesus Christ; and a perfect 
Christian in the fullest sense is one who per- 
fectly exhibits these virtues. 

190 



THE IDEAL CHEISTIAN 

In the light of this explanation it will be 
easier to understand why the frequently used 
(and by many considered entirely simple) term 
"perfect love" is ambiguous and susceptible 
of two significations. Its meaning varies ac- 
cording as we take it in the wider or narrower 
implication, as real or only formal, with or 
without perfect knowledge. It would seem clear 
that love is closely conditioned upon knowledge, 
that a man can not love that of which he knows 
nothing, can not love deeply that of which he 
knows little, and, in short, other things being 
equal, he will love in proportion to the knowl- 
edge. It is our privilege and duty to increase 
in love and holiness and faith, as we increase 
in knowledge of the object worthy to be loved 
and trusted, nor can there be an increase of the 
former without an increase of the latter. Sig- 
nificant is the marginal rendering (which seems 
the more correct) of Col. 1: 10, "increasing by 
the knowledge of God." Knowledge of God is 
like the dew and rain which nourishes the 
growth of the plant. In proportion as our 
knowledge, ever increasing, approximates a per- 
fect apprehension, not merely of the letter of 

191 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

the law, but of its practical application to the 
endlessly diversified and complicated events of 
life, of God's holy law which demands the ab- 
solute right in thought, word, and deed, in that 
proportion we approach a perfection which is 
not simply formal but real, a perfection of the 
action as well as of the intention. So long as 
the perfection of our service is marred by er- 
rors of judgment and other defects arising 
from imperfect knowledge, even if the intent 
is all right, we can not be fully satisfied that 
we have reached the highest goal, the real per- 
fection. 

Love surely includes, it is important to re- 
member, those practical manifestations of it 
which we term patience, humility, gentleness, 
and the other fruits of the Spirit. The apostle 
calls love "the bond of perf ectness. " He well 
says: "Love suffereth long, and is kind: love 
envieth not: love vaunteth not itself, is not 
puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, 
seeketh not its own, is not provoked; beareth 
all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, 
endure th all things.' ' Here petulance, envy, 
boasting, conceit, selfishness of every kind, un- 

192 



THE IDEAL CHEISTIAN 

belief, reckoning up one's wrongs, and all sorts 
of unbecoming behaviour are ruled out from 
the province of love. And no smallest part of 
them, taken in any of their collocations and com- 
plicated applications, can be allowed to exist or 
intrude where love is not only formally but 
really perfect. 

It will readily be seen what a considerable 
amount of knowledge is here included. And 
how shallow it is to talk of "perfect love" in 
its wider, deeper meaning, as though it were 
something which a child or very young person 
might possess. Unseemly or unbecoming be- 
havior in the heterogeneous, multifarious cir- 
cumstances of daily life is not a small or simple 
thing. Nor do many people seem to know just 
what pride is. Good authorities opine that it 
is pride not only to ascribe anything we have 
to ourselves unduly, but to think we have what 
we really have not, to think we have more 
knowledge, virtue, or ability than we actually 
possess, to think more highly of ourselves at 
some point than we ought. How can a young 
person, then, who has not had much opportunity 
for measuring and adjusting himself in a va- 

13 193 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

riety of positions, be wholly free from pride? 
Or how can he have learned perfect content- 
ment, that which took St. Paul, we judge, nearly 
all his long life to master? Or how can he 
even comprehend the wide reaches of the grace 
of perfect simplicity which touches motive, so 
that he is actuated in all his dealings and doings 
merely by love to God and a desire for His 
praise, only one end and aim in everything at- 
tempted, all referred absolutely to God's ap- 
proval and that alone ? The same pointed ques- 
tions might be asked with reference to perfect 
patience, perfect meekness, perfect gentleness, 
perfect prayerfulness, perfect watchfulness, 
perfect trustfulness, perfect temperance, that 
is, self-control or balance — all of which are 
parts of love. They are surely not for the un- 
developed and immature. They imply much 
more knowledge and discipline than are possi- 
ble where there is but slight experience. 

The full scope of love, it is evident, can only 
be understood by examining the many virtues 
properly included in it. We glibly pronounce 
the word, but we have to break it up into its 
component parts, and look at its large variety 

194 



THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN 

of applications before we can feel that we really 
know it. Its all-inclusiveness escapes lis and 
it resolves itself into a mere vague good inten- 
tion unless we reflect. It is important also to 
remember that love abides in the will rather 
than in the feeling. Its distinctive mark con- 
sists in a steady purpose to please and to serve. 
The essential test of discipleship is ethical and 
volitional, not emotional. Emotional efferves- 
cence subsides ; intellectual and moral consecra- 
tion abides. The attitude of the will is without 
doubt the essential central thing. The will is 
primal in religion; for religion is a series of 
right choices beginning with deliberate self-sur- 
render. The only positive evil is an evil or per- 
verted will; the only absolute good is a good 
will. Willing is the main thing. It is altogether 
different from wishing. The latter is a mere 
transient excitement, a pining or a mild pant- 
ing. The former is a permanent pressure, the 
driving force of a steam engine. 

Maturity, then, of the largest sort, would 
certainly seem to be a component part of the 
ideal Christian. But maturity, as we indicated 
in the last chapter, from its general looseness 

195 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

and ambiguity is a very unsatisfactory term. 
The changes have been often rung upon it, as 
contrasted with purity, in a way not conducive 
to clearness of thought. When partial purity 
is discriminated from perfect purity, as it al- 
ways ought to be in the same way as partial 
sanctification is from entire sanctification, it 
will be seen that the possession of the latter 
taken absolutely is impossible without much 
maturity, much knowledge. Purity and matu- 
rity are inextricably interlocked, just as love 
and knowledge are, both susceptible of many 
degrees, with no exact significance, and unless 
discrimination is observed their relations will 
not be at all understood, nor any benefit derived 
from their use. It is probably better to let these 
terms alone. 

Many writers on this theme, who do not see 
far into it, insist that a man may be perfect in 
love while very imperfect in the qualities or 
manifestations of love ; that he may have a per- 
fect subjective or internal purification, while 
his outward life is far from perfect, and his 
Christian graces are very immature. They de- 
clare that a person who unquestionably shows 

196 



THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN 

imperfect control of tongue or temper, imper- 
fect patience, humility, meekness, gentleness, 
contentment, prayerfulness, etc., lias neverthe- 
less perfect love. We can not agree with them. 
Assuredly they overlook the fact that all these 
qualities of a perfect character are but parts of 
love, and parts that can in no wise be separated 
from the whole. We separate them in thought, 
simply for convenience of consideration, pre- 
cisely in the same way that we assign special 
names— "Arctic," "Atlantic," "Pacific," "In- 
dian" — to the different parts of the one great 
ocean, the undivided body of water which covers 
three-fourths of the globe, whose billows join 
in all latitudes with no sign of separation. 

Even so, there is but one divine element — 
love. Patience is love suffering; meekness is 
love enduring provocation ; patience is love re- 
posing or love producing harmony with environ- 
ment; humility is love estimating its claims; 
joy is love exulting; charity is love sitting in 
judgment; politeness is love in society; and so 
on. Love embraces everything. This is why 
getting more religion is only getting more love, 
why there can be nothing higher than love ; why, 

197 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

as Wesley says, "Love is the one kind of holi- 
ness existing in different degrees in various be- 
lievers ;" and if we are seeking anything but 
more love we are seeking amiss. Whatever de- 
fect there may be then in any of these divisions 
or departments or developments of love, is a 
real defect in love itself. There can be no per- 
fection in the latter which does not show itself 
throughout the former. The very vagueness of 
the word love, taken in a merely general way, 
and not separated into its component parts 
which have a closer application to daily life, 
lends itself readily to delusion; and directing 
the attention to one or more of the parts, such 
as are most practical, is an excellent way of 
detecting the deception. Love, being an emo- 
tion, is best tested or measured by that to which 
it moves us, by something which comes out 
clearer into the light of day as a matter of mo- 
ment-by-moment obedience to the will of God. 
It is quite convenient and comfortable for a per- 
son to say when charged with certain derelic- 
tions, "I feel nothing but love; but on account 
of my physical and mental infirmities I am not 
able to manifest my feelings.' 9 Is not such a 

198 



THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN 

person very much on a par with, the child who, 
when questioned at school, replies, "I know, 
but I can not tell?" The trouble with the child 
is that he does not really and clearly know. He 
only thinks he knows ; he has only a vague, dim, 
and misty half -knowledge, which of course re- 
fuses to shape itself into a definite form of 
words. The endeavor to put his cloudy concep- 
tion into articulate speech is the very test 
needed to reveal its cloudiness, which before 
was suspected but now is sure. Just so it is 
with the claim that our love is all right, while 
our exhibition or manifestation of it somehow 
fails. The latter must be accepted as the test 
of the former. 

Love is shown by its fruits. The only way 
we can really know the state of the heart is to 
watch its outcome. If the outward is only rela- 
tively or partially perfect, the proper conclu- 
sion to draw is that the inward also is only rela- 
tively or partially perfect. A partially perfect 
life means a partially perfect love. If, for ex- 
ample, something that looks like pride is seen in 
a man's demeanor, if there is too much self- 
assertion and self-confidence, if there is an as- 

199 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

sumption of leadership for which there is no 
sufficient foundation of well-attested ability, 
does not this plainly show that an over-fond- 
ness for self really has place in his heart, that 
there is a lack of proper love to the others 
with whom a comparison has been made so much 
more to their disadvantage than it ought to have 
been? "Would they have been thus wronged in 
the estimate had they been perfectly loved? In 
the same way, if there is impatience in a per- 
son's conduct, if irritation or petulance is shown 
in tone or manner, it appears that pure and per- 
fect love is not in active exercise at that mo- 
ment. If it were it would sweep away these 
uncomfortable agitations ; it would prevent the 
formation of such feelings; it would make im- 
possible even for a second anything like ani- 
mosity toward the person or thing that, by in- 
terfering with our plans or crossing our will 
or frustrating our purposes, has disturbed the 
equanimity of our mind. And so we might pro- 
ceed with the other qualities. When closely an- 
alyzed we believe that any experience or mani- 
festation of such traits as we have mentioned 
will be found to imply some lack of love, that 

200 



THE IDEAL CHEISTIAN 

is, of love in active exercise then and there. 
But it is only as it is in activity, when the con- 
ditions calling for it exist, that we can rightly 
infer its probable existence. 

Clearly then it would be better to say — not 
"I have perfect love of the highest quality 
which, through my mental and physical imper- 
fections I am unable to manifest' 7 — but, "Be- 
cause of my mental and physical imperfections, 
my love must also be in some respects imper- 
fect, and be called perfect love only in that 
lower, inferior sense which suffices to keep me 
from condemnation, because keeping me from 
sin." To claim anything else is to fall into 
the same pit of absurdity which involves those 
believers in the healing of sickness by faith 
alone who stoutly maintain that the cure of 
their bodily ailments is complete, while the 
symptoms all remain unchanged. "Simply ig- 
nore them and press forward, claiming the 
reality at the back of and below the symptoms," 
is the cry of the faith healers ; "count them only 
•so many infirmities and steadily believe that 
the life of Jesus is there just the same, working 
out the great restoration." Sensible people 

201 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

count this, in the case of the faith doctors, as 
absurd fanaticism and bare-faced presumption, 
the all-sufficient cause of so many pseudo-cures 
which result in physical relapse and spiritual 
despair. We find a complete parallel in the 
case of great numbers who profess just as 
loudly and positively to be wholly cured of all 
those sinful habits of the soul which constitute 
about what we mean by depravity, although 
the symptoms of that moral malady, as shown 
in the tongue and temper of daily life, appear 
to be but little changed. In the matter of both 
spiritual and physical healing it is the height 
of unreason to claim for the interior anything 
which does not, with a fair degree of prompt- 
ness, show itself on the exterior. This is a look- 
ing not at the things which are seen but at the 
things which are unseen, which was not contem- 
plated in the apostle's exhortation. 

The Christian who is ideal both in the end 
reached and the method of reaching it, both in 
the outcome and the process, may be quite easily 
•described in words, but can not be seen in actual 
flesh and blood to-day. His course would be 
something like the following : As a little child, 

202 



£HE IDEAL CHEISTIAN 

under the nurture of the Spirit, he would 
eagerly receive such rudimentary principles of 
redemption as his budding powers were fitted 
to apprehend, would respond to the love of God 
as fast as it came into his view. Recognizing 
from the start the rightful claims of the Heav- 
enly Father, he would be always in the King- 
dom of Heaven and need no conversion. As 
fast as fuller light came to him with ripening 
years he would give complete consent thereto, 
and with no drawing back would dedicate all 
his powers to the service of the Lord. There 
would be no place anywhere for any sort of 
epochal or paroxysmal experience, for he would 
go uniformly straight on developing from one 
degree of goodness to another, from grace to 
grace, from glory to glory. He would choose 
right at every opportunity for choice all along 
the line of growth, without vacillation or hesi- 
tation. In other words, he would never sin. 
There has been, of course, but one such life; 
some nineteen hundred years ago, in Palestine. 
The usual way is very different. We have 
indicated it perhaps with sufficient distinctness 
in the previous chapter. Sin comes in, leading 

203 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

up to a crisis of sorrow therefor, and of turning 
from it to God. Then after a period of perfect 
loyalty to the new Master, which theoretically 
might have continued without break, but prob- 
ably never does in actual life, there come other 
sins, smaller than those before, less heinous and 
outbreaking but needing to be put away, and, 
not being promptly put away in each instance 
or avoided at their inception, they accumulate 
until there is call for another crisis wherein 
the soul turns again with deepened love to God 
and experiences a second change, a larger de- 
liverance, into greater freedom and power. 
Then, as a rule, the history here repeats itself, 
probably more than once. This doubly saved 
man might, no doubt, go straight on from this 
point with a perfectly uniform growth ever 
after, promptly, infallibly meeting every de- 
mand of conscience, responding perfectly to 
every scintillation of advancing light, throwing 
himself with the utmost energy into pressing 
forward with all possible rapidity, leaving no 
chance of improvement or of doing good unused, 
yielding in no smallest degree to any tempta- 
tion, never dwelling on it for a moment or pro- 

204 



THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN 

longing at all the inevitable, incipient desires 
for pleasant but forbidden things, repelling 
every suggestion of Satan with the utmost pos- 
sible instantaneousness ; escaping all blame- 
worthy blunders, all that could be avoided by 
the keenest watchfulness, the greatest concen- 
tration of purpose, and the largest attainable 
information; and cancelling day by day what- 
ever minute remains of depravity might be 
brought into his consciousness. This is a theo- 
retical possibility; and would leave no place 
for any further crisis or epoch. But it is 
hardly in human nature to do it. "We ques- 
tion if it ever has been done. On the con- 
trary, as before, these slight sins, still slighter 
now than previously — but undoubtedly sins, 
"not of faith," avoidable infractions of the 
law — begin to occur at intervals, after the 
exuberant emotion has subsided and when 
new conditions bring new, keener testings not 
anticipated. Not much attention, perhaps, is 
paid to them. They are decidedly not in the 
program as usually laid out. They are con- 
trary to expectation. They are awkward to 
interpret. It has been supposed that such 

205 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

things were absolutely past forever. So they 
are soothingly called infirmities, mistakes, er- 
rors of judgment, mere temptations, to which 
everybody is liable. Thus they are explained 
away or overlooked. But this does not improve 
them or cause them to vanish. On the contrary 
it is apt to lull conscience to sleep, and pre- 
vent any proper measures for real relief. So 
matters go on probably for years, the life un- 
satisfactory when judged by the perfect stand- 
ard, which comes more and more into view, and 
progress very slow or altogether stopped. 

Well for such a one if he receives right in- 
struction, and is brought up to still another 
crisis or epoch which, being managed as were 
those before, sets him into a higher place and 
teaches him the true way of mounting still 
further. He should be made to understand that 
the second change or blessing or deliverance 
received, which he mistakenly thought a finality 
was only an incident, a very important one to 
be sure, but after all only an incident, just as 
was the first change, in the great ongoing life 
of the Christian, that life which should be a per- 
petual forward march from the beginning point 

206 



THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN 

of conversion to the glorious consummation in 
the skies. And he should learn that it did not 
necessarily bring him into a very advanced 
state of grace. It renewed his loyalty, his per- 
fect loyalty which he had at the start, but from 
which he had insensibly, unintentionally fallen 
away. Beginning again now a perfectly loyal 
Christian on a higher plane of knowledge and 
getting a much more intelligent grip on the 
method of procedure to be used for healthy 
growth, he is to press on toward the glorious 
ideal of complete Christlikeness which he sees 
looming up with ever increasing clearness and 
beckoning him ever on. 

This onward going, so far as it is healthy 
and normal, will be characterized by intense 
desire to know ever more and more what are 
the possibilities of divine grace or of Christian 
achievements in this life and to realize them, 
increasingly in the daily walk. A thoroughly 
earnest Christian, perceiving that the absolute 
ideal of an entirely Christlike life is out of the 
question, sets himself with all eagerness to 
prove just what is the uttermost salvation at- 
tainable, just what are the limits of growth to 

207 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

a mere human being hampered by ordinary 
flesh and blood, just what is the highest degree 
of perfection to be reached here. This, of 
course, means, in the first place, study; and in 
the second place, a progressive mastery of all 
that is involved in faultless character or the 
perfect life. It means loving and serving God 
each moment with all present powers together 
with a persistent effort to increase those 
powers, to know Him better and so be able to 
do more for Him. How can we know the mind 
and will of the Master unless we apply our mind 
to it? How can we carry out indefinitely the 
content or result of our thinking without the 
very greatest painstaking, ever new inventions, 
as it were, for the promotion of largest purity? 
This is the divinely appointed way. Saintliness 
is both a science and an art, something to be 
learned, something to be practiced, something 
in which only much labor will make really per- 
fect. 

Let us look, then, a bit before closing this 
chapter at some of the traits or qualities which 
will stamp him who is far on in Christian liv- 
ing, and is steadily climbing the ultimate 

208 



THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN 

heights of being. For one thing, he will recog- 
nize, will be forced to recognize, that more and 
more exact conformity to the will divine is the 
chief mark of Christian growth. This must be 
so since the final goal is perfect union with the 
divine will or oneness with God. The sooner 
one learns that religion resides in the will 
chiefly, and not simply or mainly in the feel- 
ings, in the volitions rather than in the affec- 
tions, the better for his progress. Eightness 
of will is a more intelligible and effective phrase 
than purity of heart. It is true that we are 
commanded to love; but the very fact we are 
commanded shows that the kind of love meant 
is not a mere emotion, (for this latter is not 
subject to command), but a volition which we 
are fully able to put forth. The will is the ex- 
ecutive of our composite being, and stands pri- 
marily for the total man; it is on the throne, 
holds the scepter, gives the orders, and in turn 
receives them from the higher power. The su- 
preme end of our creation is to make us, by 
free, persistent, habitual choice, one with our 
Creator, so that we will what He wills ; and this 
includes loving what He loves, hating what He 
14 209 



THE PEKFECT LIFE 

hates, and choosing what He chooses, for the 
will enters into all these things. We shall do, 
when this state is reached, as He would do if 
He were in our place ; so that we may fairly be 
said to represent Him and reproduce Him ; He 
lives and feels and acts and thinks in us. It 
is our life task to get as closely as possible and 
as rapidly as possible to this ideal. He is in 
the right place, he and only he, who makes the 
will of God the only rule of his life, he with 
whom pure love governs and pervades all his 
thoughts, feelings, words, actions, and prompts 
every volition without the slightest exception; 
he who neither feels nor exhibits any temper 
that does not perfectly reflect the image of 
Christ. 

The clear-thinking, spiritual athlete, one 
through whom the divine life freely expresses 
itself, will also recognize that God's will be- 
comes known to us in actual life by the things 
which it orders or permits to happen. And 
hence our business, if we aspire to high godli- 
ness, is to unite promptly and heartily with 
all events. There is no other path to perfect 
peace than this one of joyful acceptance of 

210 



THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN 

whatever God sees fit to send in little things 
as in large, in so-called afflictions as well as in 
so-called blessings. On this basis everything 
which befalls us comes from God for our good, 
is a godsend, a providence. The loving Father 
takes nothing from any of His children but in 
order to give them something better in its stead. 
He who assumes this position has a sure, safe 
basis for implicit, unfaltering trust in the Lord, 
which is at once most reasonable and most 
blessed, grounded in good sense and leading 
to unalloyed felicity. It is based on straight, 
solid science and irrefutable philosophy (for 
both of these teach that God is the source of all 
motion in the physical universe), while at the 
same time it is abundantly buttressed by the 
Scriptures, and bears the soul on to irrepres- 
sible exultation. It in no way affords counte- 
nance to pantheism, fatalism, or Calvinism. It 
does not imply that God in any way sanctions 
sin; for sin, strictly speaking, is wholly in the 
wrong volition, wholly within where God has 
no control. It does not prevent us from strik- 
ing the strongest possible blows against what 
we deem to be evil; for it is clearly a part of 

211 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

God's will concerning us that we be active in 
putting down whatever is doing harm, while we 
are passive in our reception of whatever comes 
to us as an accomplished fact in spite of our 
endeavors to make it different.* 

A life on these lines is not disquieted or dis- 
appointed, not troubled or terrified, knows not 
what it is to doubt, has "nothing to wish or to 
fear." Being wrapped up in the will which 
always comes to pass, whose transcendent 
beauty and surpassing excellence it increasingly 
adores, perfectly indifferent to everything else, 
how can it know anything but satisfaction from 
moment to moment? As Faber, one of the past 
masters in these things, so well says : 

I have no cares, O blessed Will ! 

For all my cares are Thine ; 
I live in triumph, Lord, for Thou 

Hast made Thy triumphs mine. 

He always wins who sides with God, 

To him no chance is lost ; 
God's will is sweetest to him when 

It triumphs at His cost. 



* Whoever is interested in a fuller discussion of this profound, 
yet most practical subject of Divine Providence, will find it in a 
volume called "The Life Ecstatic," published by the American 
Tract Society. 

212 



THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN 

111 that He blesses is our good, 

And unblest good is ill ; 
And all is right that seems most wrong, 

If it be His sweet Will!" 

Such a one, so far as lie has attained to per- 
fectness of faith — a faith that is fully assured, 
unfaltering, fire-proof, unshakable by the tem- 
pest's might, defiant of all foes and woes, fear- 
less, firm, and immutably fixed in God — will find 
every moment and every spot filled with God, 
filled with the love and power and wisdom of 
the Heavenly Father, will have a complete and 
permanent realization of the intimate personal 
presence of the Savior, so that there is habitual 
communion with Him, and nothing can occur 
but what is improved and applied for spiritual 
profit, compelled to bring more of His likeness. 
This faith, joined with fullness of love, will 
show itself in a marvellous religious buoyancy, 
in a brightly beaming face, stamped with ex- 
hilaration and ecstacy, sparkling with happy 
thoughts, flaming with joy in Jesus, lighted 
with sweetness by an unselfish longing for the 
welfare of others, radiant with good will to all 
as one who possesses a glad secret that all 

213 



L THE PEEFECT LIFE 

ought to know — a face where the bugles blow, 
the bands play, the bells ring, the banners of 
true gladness show, and all heaven pours its 
hallelujahs through the features. There is a 
very close connection between holiness and hap- 
piness ; the highest life is the happiest. 

Heavenly-mindedness belongs of right to 
such a one, for the divine presence realized in 
the largest degree is heaven. He lives "in the 
heavenlies," sits there with Christ, blessed with 
all spiritual blessings in Him, all things put 
under his feet, as one who tastes "the exceed- 
ing greatness of His power toward us who be- 
lieve,' ' (Eph. 1:3, 19-23; 2:6). He "tastes 
e'en here the hallowed bliss of an eternal 
home." Having no slightest controversy with 
God at any point and dwelling in His presence 
constantly, he is of paradise possessed, he has 
that "inheritance of the saints in light," where 
there is no darkness at all, no night, no tears, 
no death. Such stand day and night in His 
presence. They sing to Him and serve Him 
and see His face. For such a one heaven is not 
simply or chiefly a glorious prospect, it is a 
present aspect. It has more than dawned upon 

214 



THE IDEAL CHEISTIAN 

him; it has poured into his soul "the light 
that never was on sea or land;" it has given 
him to be attended by that vision splendid which 
naught can cause to fade away into the light of 
common day. 

A life such as we are attempting to describe, 
on the mountains of God, has peculiar relations 
to temptation. The assaults of the adversary 
have changed in their direction and in the re- 
ception they meet. So far as they are recog- 
nized as being from the evil one they have no 
attraction. "Temptations lose their power 
when Thou art nigh." And since He is always 
thus nigh, on these heights of divine glory, Sa- 
tan is rebuffed with ease whenever He plainly 
appears. The bias toward evil being now so 
nearly straightened out or reversed, there is 
very little trouble in holding the sensibilities 
and susceptibilities in perfect control by reason 
and conscience. The only danger is lest the 
evil presented with superhuman subtlety and 
wrapped in thick disguises be not recognized 
at once for what it is, and so through lack, per- 
haps, of absolutely perfect watchfulness, there 
comes to be some slight tampering with what 

215 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

taints. The subtlest, most dangerous tempta- 
tions are incitements to take the less perfect 
but more pleasing of two ways to reach a right 
end. As a rule, this hero of a hundred success- 
ful fights, skillful in detecting the first approach 
of ill, is now "more than a conqueror, " and has 
no need to struggle, but calmly monarchs the 
scene, supreme ruler of all circumstances. 

This life, once more, is marked by a red-hot 
enthusiasm for Jesus, is filled with the incom- 
parable preciousness and sweetness of that 
wondrous name. It is fairly on fire with love 
for Him. It cries, "None but Christ." 

Not I, but Christ be honored, loved, exalted, 
Not I, but Christ be seen, be known, be heard, 
Not I, but Christ in every look and action, 
Not I, but Christ in every thought and word." 

Although "once it was the blessing, now it is 
the Lord," the Blesser. Once it was His gifts, 
now it is Himself. Once we sought to help 
Him, now we let Him use us. Once we wanted 
power, now is it the Mighty One who alone suf- 
ficeth. We seek to do all in Christ, in vital 
union with His strength, for Christ, out of love 
to Him, unto Christ, as seeing Him in the per- 

216 



THE IDEAL CHEISTIAN 

sons to whom we minister, and as Christ, whom 
we represent since He is in us and we are He, 
or at least His own brothers. 

Praise the Lord that this supremely beau- 
tiful life, marked by an ever greater and more 
rapid approximation to the matchless image 
of the Savior, may indeed be ours ! It may, if 
there be an overmastering passion for the di- 
vine glory, a deep enthusiasm for goodness, and 
for an entirely consistent walk. It may, if we 
keep on the line of discovery determined to find 
out for ourselves all that the saints in Scrip- 
ture or out of it have found out for themselves. 
It will, if we prize it enough, and take the right 
steps to reach it. We shall thus become com- 
panions of the order of salvation, knights of 
the Holy Ghost, belonging to the highest roy- 
alty, the seraphic, nay the divine! 



217 



CHAPTER SEVEN. 

METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION. 

The increasing sentiment for Christian union 
in these days puts denominationalism to 
the task of self-justification. The petty sects, 
which still seem multiplying, grow exceedingly 
ridiculous, and even the larger branches of 
Christ's one Church feel challenged to show 
cause for their separate existence. "What is 
Methodism's reason for being? The Episcopal 
Address at the beginning of our book of Disci- 
pline has from time immemorial contained this 
statement: "We believe that God's design in 
raising up the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
America was to aid largely in evangelizing the 
continent, and to spread Scriptural holiness 
over these lands.' ' In the Historical Statement 
which follows it are quoted the words of John 
and Charles Wesley in regard to the rise of 
Methodism in England that "God thrust them 

218 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

out to raise a holy people.' ' This fully accords 
with all the known facts, and will not be ques- 
tioned by any. The disgracefully low condition 
of religion in England stirred the heart of Wes- 
ley and his associates, moving them to a deter- 
mined endeavor to bring about a different state 
of things. It was not a new organization they 
were after ; that came incidentally. It was not 
even a new doctrine, so much as a new empha- 
sis on the practical experience of the fullness 
of divine grace. Mr. Wesley, writing to Eobert 
Carr Brackenbury, Esq., in 1790, not long be- 
fore he died, with regard to "full sanctifica- 
tion," said: "This doctrine is the grand deposi- 
tum which God has lodged with the people 
called Methodists; and for the sake of propa- 
gating this chiefly He appears to have raised 
us up." At an earlier time he wrote to Free- 
born Garrettson: "The more explicitly and 
strongly you press all believers to aspire after 
full sanctification as attainable now by simple 
faith, the more the whole work of God will pros- 
per." A vast number of similar words con- 
firming this, from Wesley and early Methodist 
writers, are on record and hardly need detain 

219 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

us here. They go to show most conclusively 
that inward and outward holiness of a high 
order, in all its branches and applications, was 
explicitly, strongly, constantly preached, and 
was considered the key to success. It is a fair 
inference that in the opinion of the founders 
this was that which mainly made the Metho- 
dists different from other religious commun- 
ions. 

It was originally the same in this country. 
Bishop Asbury writes: "I am divinely im- 
pressed with a charge to preach sanctification 
in every sermon.' ' Bishop Whatcoat was pre- 
eminent for this, as one who knew him well testi- 
fies : ' ' Holiness was his constant theme. He did 
indeed walk in the light of God's countenance, 
enjoying the blessing of perfect love more 
than forty years." Bishop McKendree wrote 
to Summerfield, urging him "to insist much on 
full salvation, a salvation from all sin unto all 
holiness, and build up the Church herein.' 9 
The biographer of Bishop George says: "Holi- 
ness of heart and life, as inculcated by Mr. 
Wesley and his coadjutors, was his constant 
theme in public and in private." Dr. Bangs, 

220 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

in his history of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, speaking of the preachers of early- 
Methodism in these parts, remarks: "The doc- 
trine more especially urged upon believers was 
that of sanctification or holiness of heart and 
life ; this was pressed upon them as their pres- 
ent privilege depending for its accomplishment 
now on the faithfulness of God who had prom- 
ised to do it. It was this baptism of the Holy 
Ghost which fired and filled the hearts of God's 
ministers at that time. ' ' 

Dr. John McClintock, than whom no one 
was better qualified to speak on the subject, in 
his Centenary Address at New York, in 1866, 
gave this opinion: "Knowing exactly what I 
say, and taking the full responsibility of it, I 
repeat, we are the only Church in history, from 
the apostles' time until now, that has put forth 
as its very elemental thought the great central, 
pervading idea of the whole book of God from 
the beginning to the end — the holiness of the 
human soul, heart, mind, and will. It may be 
called fanaticism ; but, dear friends, this is our 
mission. If we keep to that the next century 
is ours ; if we keep to that the triumphs of the 

221 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

next century shall throw those that are past far 
in the shade. There is our mission, there is our 
glory, there is our power, and there shall be the 
ground of our triumph. God keep us true!" 

The various Episcopal or Pastoral Ad- 
dresses at many General Conferences tell the 
same story. A few quotations may be sufficient 
to indicate the general tenor. One in 1824, to 
which are affixed the names of Bishops McKen- 
dree, Hedding, Soule, George, and Eoberts, 
says : u Dowe come to the people in the fullness 
of the blessing of the gospel of peace? Do we 
insist on the witness of the Spirit and entire 
sanctification through faith in Christ? Are we 
contented to have the doctrine of Christian holi- 
ness an article of our faith only, without becom- 
ing experimentally acquainted with it; or are 
we pressing after it as the prize of our high 
calling in Christ Jesus ? If Methodists give up 
this doctrine of entire sanctification or suffer 
it to become a dead letter we are a fallen peo- 
ple. It is this that inflames and diffuses life, 
arouses to action, prompts to perseverance and 
urges the soul forward in every holy exercise 
and useful work. If the Methodists lose sight 

222 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

of this doctrine they fall by their own weight. 
Their success in gaining numbers will be the 
cause of their dissolution. Holiness is the main 
cord that binds us together — relax this and you 
lose the whole system.' ' 

In 1832, the Pastoral Address includes the 
following: "When we speak of holiness we 
mean that state in which God is loved with all 
the heart and served with all the power. This, 
as Methodists we have said, is the privilege of 
the Christian in this life. And we have further 
said that this privilege may be secured instan- 
taneously by an act of faith, as in justification. 
Why then have we so few living witnesses that 
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth? Among 
primitive Methodists the experience of this high 
attainment in religion may justly be said to 
have been common. Now a profession of it 
is rarely to be met with among us. Is it not 
time to return to first principles ? Is it not time 
to throw off the inconsistency with which we 
are charged in this matter? Only let all who 
have been born of the Spirit seek with the same 
ardor to be made perfect in love as they sought 
for the pardon of their sins, and soon will our 

223 



FHE PEEFECT LIFE 

class-meetings and love-feasts be cheered by 
the relation of experiences of this character as 
they now are with those which tell of justifica- 
tion and the new birth." 

Similarly in 1840 we have this: "The doc- 
trine of entire sanctification constitutes the 
leading feature of original Methodism. But 
let us not suppose it enough to have it in our 
standards; let us labor to have the experience 
and the power of it in our lives. Be assured, 
brethren, that if our influence and usefulness 
as a religious community depends upon one 
thing more than any other, it is upon our carry- 
ing out the great doctrine of sanctification in 
our life and conversation. When we fail to 
do this, then shall we lose our pre-eminence; 
and the halo of glory which surrounded the 
head and lit up the path of our sainted fathers 
will have departed from their unworthy sons. 
O brethren, let our motto be, * Holiness to the 
Lord.' " 

The Centennial Conference of American 
Methodism which met in Baltimore, in 1884, 
reaffirmed the faith of the Church, using the 
following language: "We remind you, breth- 

224 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

ren, that the mission of the Methodists is to 
promote holiness. This end and aim enters into 
all our organic life. Holiness is the fullness of 
life, the crown of the soul, the joy and strength 
of the Church. It is not a sentiment or an emo- 
tion, but a principle inwrought in the heart, the 
culmination of God's work in us, followed by 
a consecrated life. In all the borders of Meth- 
odism this doctrine is preached and the experi- 
ence of sanctification is urged. We beseech 
you, brethren, stand by your standards on this 
subject. Our founders rightly interpreted the 
mind of the Spirit, and gave us the truth as 
it is in Jesus. Let us not turn from them to 
follow strange light, but rather let us believe 
their testimony, follow their example, and seek 
purity of heart by faith in the cleansing blood, 
and then in the steady line of consecrated liv- 
ing go on to perfection." 

In 1888 the Bishops say: "In all of our 
Conferences we have urged upon the ministry 
increasing attention to the doctrine and ex- 
perience of Christian Perfection as taught in 
our standards and have done this conscien- 
tiously, believing that in large measure the effi- 

15 225 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

ciency of Methodism in evangelical work de- 
pends on adherence to the testimony she has 
always given to the belief that holiness is the 
privilege of all God's people on the earth. 
Methodism is rooted and grounded in this faith, 
and we accept it as our providential mission to 
'spread Scriptural holiness over these lands.' " 

In 1896 they declare: "Our great anxiety 
is to care for and intensify the spiritual life 
of the Church. All our sufficiency is of God. 
How to increase His abiding and control in the 
life and heart must be our constant study. We 
and we alone can make our Church anything 
more than one organization among a thousand 
others. "We and we alone can make it a great 
agency of God for conquering this world for 
Christ." 

In 1908 they say: "Until there is a fuller 
acceptance of the doctrine of perfected love 
as the privilege of the believer in this life we 
can not feel it to be our duty to always stay 
out of communities sufficiently occupied as to 
numbers but not as to testimony." 

Thus the latest utterances, no less than the 
many earlier ones, bear witness to the fact 

226 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

that we have as Methodists a special mission 
to which, in the judgment of our chief pastors, 
we need to be more thoroughly awake than 
we customarily are, We have no monopoly of 
it in these days, and there is some danger that 
we are losing our leadership in the matter. 
Those trained in other communions have be- 
come enamored of the beauty of this high ex- 
perience and bid fair to excel in its advocacy 
those who should have showed them the way. 
It is at least true that the books on this sub- 
ject which have had the widest circulation in 
late years and have done the most to tone up 
the spiritual life of the Churches have come 
from non-Methodists; — such books as Mrs. H. 
W. Smith's "The Christian's Secret of a 
Happy Life," E. P. Smith's "Walking in the 
Light" and "Holiness through Faith," John 
McNeill's "The Spirit-Filled Life," Miss Smi- 
ley 's "The Fullness of Blessing," Mahan's. 
"Baptism with the Holy Ghost," the works 
of Andrew Murray, D. L. Moody, and S. D. 
Gordon. It is also true that for a good while 
now there has been an ominous silence on this 
subject in our leading pulpits and in most of 

227 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

our camp meetings, in our Church, papers, in 
our great Conventions and Conferences, and 
in most of the channels of our connectional life. 
In a series of twelve volumes published a few 
years ago by the Book Concern, embodying the 
deliverance of leading Methodist preachers, se- 
lected by themselves, out of one hundred ser- 
mons not one was upon this theme. It is very 
seldom that it is given right of way in any 
large assembly or representative gathering. In 
short, there are many indications that some- 
thing is the matter, and that if Methodism is 
to fulfill her distinctive mission there should 
be a new departure forthwith. 

The need of this new departure is empha- 
sized in more than one direction. There has 
been of late not a little inquiry and discussion 
as to the reasons for our small increase of mem- 
bership in recent years. Various theories have 
been put forth, hinging for the most part on 
doctrine and polity. We do not believe the 
cause of our comparative inefficiency lies mainly 
there. It seems to us that we must look chiefly 
to the low state of spiritual life in our Churches, 
to the paralysis of spiritual power and the 

228 



METHODISM >S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

prevalence of the worldly or lukewarm element 
that will not endure sound doctrine as to what 
the genuine following of Christ means. "We 
are persuaded that the desired change in our 
statistics would come if there should be from 
our altars a concerted and persistent urging 
upon the people of their duty to be in a very 
decided and definite sense all the Lord's. It 
stands to reason that in a religious organiza- 
tion unless there is a deep interest in religion, 
in the things of the Spirit, not much real prog- 
ress can be made. It is popular to empha- 
size evangelism, and this, of course, is very 
important. But it is only half the battle. Fully 
as indispensable, lying back of evangelism, be- 
cause giving the consecration which leads up 
to it and the character which makes the word 
of appeal weighty, is the campaign for larger 
personal holiness. To get believers fully saved 
means quite as much to the Church as to get 
outsiders brought in. How can Christians talk 
very impressively to the unconverted when con- 
scious that they themselves are unwilling to 
measure up to their privileges and answer the 
call which God is making upon them? If a 

229 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

full measure of attention were given to this 
matter by pastors and people, what victories 
would come ! The breath of a new, diviner life 
would blow over the dry bones; they would 
stand up as living men ranked in battle array ; 
they would march triumphantly against the 
foe; there would be results of the most cheer- 
ing, Christ-honoring sort. And there is noth- 
ing else that can accomplish this. 

What is the trouble? Why can not this be 
done? It never was done as much as it should 
have been, or as was desirable. There was 
always a backwardness on the part of many, 
a turning from the cross, a spirit of compro- 
mise. That, no doubt, must be expected to a 
certain extent in every age. It seems to be 
inherent in human nature. Not all have suf- 
ficient determination or energy or independence 
or courage to mount the heights. Not all have 
enough discernment to perceive the genuine 
values of things, to see what is really worth 
while. Not all have those inward appetencies 
and affinities which turn them strongly toward 
the blessed life, which lead them to respond 
fervently to the divine call. Some are easily 

230 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

satisfied with a restricted measure of goodness, 
too easily we may think, but it is not for us 
to judge their qualifications and responsibili- 
ties; we do not know them well enough, we 
overestimate, perhaps, the little that has been 
given them and so do not make enough allow- 
ance for the little outcome. We must not ex- 
pect a great deal from some people, or perhaps 
from most people. It is not likely that God 
expects a great deal from them. 

But while this frank admission must in rea- 
son be made, it must also be said that a very 
much larger proportion of the Church than 
now manifest interest in full salvation might 
and should be drawn into it. And one great 
cause why they are not, would certainly seem 
to be the needless odium that has become at- 
tached to it through the blunders and bad man- 
agement of most of its advocates. It will have 
been noticed by the reader that in the Episcopal 
Addresses quoted above a certain set of terms 
are used such as "entire sanctification," " holi- 
ness," "Christian perfection," "perfected in 
love." And in that put forth in 1852 the people 
are specifically exhorted to "adhere closely to 

231 



THE PEKFECT LIFE 

the ancient nomenclature" and not to change 
even the phraseology employed in the writings 
of Wesley and Fletcher, nor let them be "su- 
perseded by more recent writers on the sub- 
ject." In consequence of all this, and from 
other causes, it has come about that the old 
phraseology has been tenaciously insisted upon, 
made a matter of partisan loyalty and denomi- 
national consistency, and has grown to be the 
worst kind of a stumbling-block and barrier 
in the path of the spiritual progress of the 
Church. These traditional and more or less 
artificial phrases have not been carefully de- 
fined, and have gathered about them implica- 
tions which made their use exceedingly offen- 
sive and practically impossible to a very large 
class of the most judicious and earnestly re- 
ligious minds. Until this hindrance is removed 
the doctrine so important and precious to Meth- 
odists will not get the hearing it deserves, or 
command the suffrages of those who otherwise 
would be its friends. 

It is high time there was a close inquiry 
as to just what is really essential and what is 
accidental and quite unimportant in the set- 

232 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

ting forth of this great truth, this glorious doc- 
trine which from the beginning has stood so 
close to the center of Methodism's peculiar mes- 
sage and largest effectiveness. May there not 
be a statement which shall preserve and safe- 
guard all that is of primary consequence and, 
by lopping off extraneous matters, secure that 
these fundamental ones shall have the empha- 
sis they so much need and deserve? It seems so 
to us. We are very sure that the real strength 
of Methodism has not consisted in idle and 
fruitless speculations as to whether a person 
was made perfectly holy, by the exertion of 
Divine power, "in the article of death" as it 
was called, in the ex;act moment of the sever- 
ance of the soul from the body, or a few mo- 
ments before; or whether the word sin could 
properly and strictly be applied to the infirm- 
ities and defects that come from our disor- 
dered body and mind; or whether there was a 
direct unintelligible witness of the Spirit to the 
instantaneous, mysterious extraction of what 
were queerly called the "roots of bitterness" 
supposed to be imbedded somewhere in the 
depths of one's being. No, these theological 

233 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

quiddities and quibbles are matters which might 
well be left in abeyance or dismissed wholly as 
unprofitable conjectures well calculated to 
breed endless and needless discussion full of 
perplexity to the simple-hearted seeker after 
the uttermost salvation. 

The strength of Methodism has lain, as we 
look at it, in its insistence that Christians, now, 
by an immediate act of faith, a distinct second 
work of grace, should come into a new relation 
with God characterized by a passionate, all- 
consuming love for Him, a loyalty that straight- 
way obeys every known command, and a power 
that makes victory over all temptation easy 
as well as service in His cause effective and 
delightful. That which has differentiated Meth- 
odism from other Churches, and still does so 
in great measure, has been and is the fact it 
emphasized a second change or deliverance or 
conversion, as distinct as the first, closely cor- 
responding to the first, brought about in the 
same way by God's Spirit in response to con- 
secration and faith, and doing for the believer 
very much what that did for the sinner, putting 
him on a higher plane where he had a wider 

234 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

outlook, a deeper peace, and was very much 
nearer to the Lord. It is at this point most 
surely that Methodism has won her main tri- 
umph and done her greatest service to the 
world. Other Churches have furnished isolated 
examples of great saints, perfected through 
suffering and stamped with an inextinguishable 
longing for full conformity to the whole image 
of God. Other Churches have presented a high 
standard of Christian attainment, certain 
"counsels of perfection' ' which have been made 
very alluring. But ours is the only Church that 
has made central in its system this conception of 
a Christian life of entire devotedness, reached 
not as the result of long toiling, through good 
works, as it were, but suddenly as the answer 
of God to the faith that claims his promises 
in the present tense. Methodism has laid its 
emphasis here, on the practicability of this ex- 
perience as an instantaneous attainment, and 
its absolute necessity for highest usefulness and 
enjoyment. It has pressed this home, when 
at its best, with all urgency and with many 
delightful consequences. The drawback has 
been (what a pity!) that because of some in- 

235 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

felicities and mistakes of statement, because 
of failures to discriminate as to just what could 
be obtained in a moment and what must await 
extended practice, because of the unwise, er- 
roneous terms employed, it has bad to spend 
a good deal of its time in checking the ex- 
travagances that have come about and rebuk- 
ing the fanaticisms that have so plentifully 
sprung up. 

If this be so, if Methodism stands pre-em- 
inently for this higher life of perfect loyalty 
as the one normal regular consistent Christian 
life worthy of the name, to be rightfully de- 
manded and expected of its people now, to be 
grasped by an instantaneous act of present 
faith and attended by God's Spirit empowering 
for service, then Methodism is untrue to its 
mission, not when it changes its nomenclature 
to adapt it to modern ways of thinking, not 
when it lops off and leaves out this or that non- 
essential which has been proved to be unsup- 
ported by clear reason or soundly interpreted 
Scripture, but when it gives up or slurs over 
the appeal for an immediate committal of all to 
God, a committal so accompanied by an ap- 

236 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

propriating faith that it shall be followed by 
a distinct, definite epoch-making renewal of the 
inward man, marking a changed attitude of 
the soul toward all questions of duty and a 
fullness of the Spirit's power before unknown. 
With this appeal left out, Methodism becomes 
an essentially different thing. "With this ap- 
peal retained, there may be many minor modi- 
fications which so far from weakening its force 
shall greatly strengthen it. 

It should be specified that this inward re- 
newal or transformation is not a finality, pre- 
cluding further progress in this line, but is 
an installment making further progress much 
easier than it is; not "the culmination of God's 
work in us," or the absolute consummation and 
completion of all sanctifying processes, but a 
step upward, to be followed by other such steps 
as God may subsequently show are needed. The 
little phrase, "up to light," is all that is needed 
to safeguard the whole matter. They who re- 
ject this because it was not used by the fathers 
are imperiling a great deal for the sake of a 
very little, are failing to grasp the kernel of 
the matter and allowing themselves to be en- 

237 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

tangled in the shells and husks. It is because 
of the insistence on these outworn details that 
a disgust has arisen with many, leading them 
impatiently to thrust away the whole thing. 
Surely it is wiser to give a rest to the old 
polemic with Calvinism as to the exact meaning 
of sin, and the exact time when all depravity 
is removed, and other such non-essential mat- 
ters. They are not worth the labor which has 
been expended upon them; at least they are 
not worth continuing at this day. The impor- 
tant point is that the Church or the Christian 
believer shall be all the Lord's just now, con- 
secrated and sanctified up to the full measure 
of present consciousness and pledged to press 
on as rapidly as possible to still further con- 
quests over evil, free from all known sin and 
ever open to further enlightenment as to duty, 
further revealings of the possibilities of growth. 
Here, then, we may and should take our 
stand at any cost. If there be opposition to 
this, as there will be from those who do not 
wish to be obliged to face embarrassing ques- 
tions as to worldly amusements, or business ir- 
regularities, or indulgencies of appetite and 

238 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

temper and covetousness, such opposition must 
be firmly met and shown up in its true colors. 
It will not be opposition that can any longer 
hide behind plausible or defensible objections 
to the mode of presentation, to a false psy* 
chology, or to the use of Scripture words in un- 
scriptural meanings. Ignorant people will no 
doubt still talk glibly about that which they 
do not understand. The erratic and misguided 
will still attach themselves to this glorious truth 
and bring discredit upon it. Inconsistent con- 
duct on the part of some loud professors, who 
do not, perhaps, after all, mean to profess 
what their language naturally conveys, will still 
be a stumbling-block, disinclining some others 
even to appear to be at all mixed up in the 
matter. But all this may be put aside as in- 
cidental to the struggle of any great truth for 
proper recognition, something to be naturally 
expected and that need not have weight. While 
with the one hand Methodist leaders are obliged 
to repress disorders and correct misapprehen- 
sions, with the other hand they surely may 
beckon forward the hosts under their care, 
may put to their lips the trumpet that shall 

239 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

summon the Church to arise and march. There 
is pressing need of such a battle note, such a 
clarion call. If it could sound through all our 
borders, clear and loud and long, in words that 
would carry conviction without awakening 
needless criticism or confusion, a benefit would 
be conferred upon Methodism directly, and 
upon the whole Israel of God indirectly, that no 
one can measure. It would transform the 
Church into a conquering legion, an overwhelm- 
ing force, by which the armies of the aliens 
would be shattered. "We trust the time may 
soon come when this both can and will be done. 
In spite of all that has been done in this 
direction by other denominations, in spite of 
their large approach to us and our large ap- 
proach to them, Methodism has yet a peculiar 
responsibility to this theme. Her history 
counts for much. The traditions of other days 
can not be overlooked. The fathers speak to 
us from their graves. The old-time religion is 
the one thing that will save us from the de- 
moralization of prosperity which is somewhat 
upon us, from the worldliness and decay which 
seriously threaten. Only as the spirit which 

240 



METHODISM'S DISTINCTIVE MISSION 

was so prominently stamped upon the Church 
of that former day is predominant now can 
we take the world for Christ. With that spirit, 
joined to our increased wealth and education 
and other advantages, we could sweep every- 
thing before us. Surely we may have their 
red-hot earnestness, their boldness, their thor- 
ough-going devotion, their heroic endurance, 
their sublime endeavors, their fearless procla- 
mation of the power of God to save from all 
sin. Let "Holiness to the Lord," in no nar- 
row or partisan or technical sense, but in its 
largest inclusions and deepest infusions of spir- 
itual might, be kept broadly inscribed on our 
banners. Let us make very prominent our pro- 
found conviction that, in addition to the rudi- 
mentary holiness common to all believers and 
without which no man can see the Lord, there 
is a higher holiness to be obtained by those 
believers who thoroughly repent of the sins 
which they have committed since conversion, 
to be obtained by faith at any time when they 
are ready intelligently, unreservedly, and ir- 
revocably to give up all which the Spirit shows 
them of sinful self, to be obtained the sooner 
16 241 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

the better since great enjoyment and great ef- 
fectiveness for service depend upon it; and in 
addition to this higher there is a highest holi- 
ness, still further on, awaiting much larger in- 
crements of knowledge and the necessary dis- 
cipline of suffering and long practice which 
life as it continues will not fail to bring. In 
this way shall we maintain the lead on this 
great subject which belongs to us by right. In 
this way, grasping all the good that was in the 
past while keeping clear of its deficiencies, re- 
taining the burning heart without the wild fire, 
the zeal combined with larger knowledge, the 
old substance of doctrine in newer dress, we 
shall reach the largest and most permanent 
success. 



242 



CHAPTEE EIGHT. 

SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS. 

A vaeiety of minor topics having very inti- 
mate practical relations with the general sub- 
ject under scrutiny it has not been found con- 
venient to treat in the previous chapters, or 
if they have been touched upon it has been but 
slightly and incidentally. Hence it seems well 
just here to present, in that catechetical form 
which promotes distinctness and compactness 
of thought, a number of inquiries which have 
been more or less matters of debate in Meth- 
odist circles and publications for many years. 
"We make no pretensions to the infallible settle- 
ment of them, but we have given them much 
attention, and, as St. Paul says, we think that 
we also have the Spirit of God. At any rate 
our discussion would not be complete were these 
points omitted. 

1. How far should we accentuate "the sec- 
243 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

ond blessing?" So far as the term goes, it is 
not perhaps the best. It lies open at least to 
the objection of giving undue prominence to the 
emotional side of the great experience, and it 
is sometimes remarked with propriety that we 
should fix our thought on the Blesser rather 
than on the blessing. This is true. The in- 
creasingly appreciated, apprehended, and ap- 
propriated Christ is the one source of our 
progress and of our victories. Nevertheless, in 
all effective, triumphant Christianity feeling 
has a large place. Methodists of all people can 
not afford to depreciate or suppress emotion. 
Even St. Paul, with his clear logical intellect, 
had times when the revelations of divine grace 
were overwhelming, when it seemed to him that 
he had been caught up into Paradise and had 
been listening to unutterable things. The Scrip- 
tures have much to say about "the blessing 
of the Lord," "showers of blessing," "the full- 
ness of the blessing." So this term does not 
seem to us particularly objectionable. But 
there are plenty of other words meaning sub- 
stantially the same thing which may be used 

244 



SOME INTEKESTING QUESTIONS 

if one prefers. We may speak of a second 
rest, a second conversion, a second deliverance 
from sin, a second change, a second distinct 
work of grace, a second crisis or epoch or trans- 
formation. John Wesley frequently used the 
term ' ' second blessing. ' ' Charles Wesley sings, 
"Let ns find that second rest." It is an old 
Methodist phrase. If the associations with it 
in some quarters have come to be offensive, it 
need not be pressed. No one term should be 
exclusively employed, lest undue significance 
should become attached to it. But we deeply 
feel that the fact behind the phrase — a distinct 
acquirement subsequent to regeneration, simi- 
lar to that, and as properly called second as 
that is first — can hardly be made too much of 
if the Church is to be lifted out of the fog of 
low desires into the sunlight of glad commun- 
ion, with a clear path leading up the heights. 
The second blessing or change is needed to 
deliver from a second-rate type of religion. 
Methodism can not rightly fulfill its mission 
without putting great stress on this marked 
accession of holy love, this divine deepening 

245 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

of the soul's inner life that sweeps it clear 
from all conscious or half -conscious disloyalty 
to its Lord. 

2. What is "making a hobby of holiness?" 
For holiness in its larger meaning, that is god- 
liness, one can scarcely have too deep a pas- 
sion. Yet even pure and undefiled religion may 
be pressed on the attention of the careless un- 
seasonably and in a way to repel rather than 
attract. Still more is this the case when a 
person devotes himself to a special doctrinal 
presentation of the subject and emphasizes dis- 
proportionately certain non-essential technical- 
ities or controversial aspects of the theme, 
when particular terms or shibboleths are ele- 
vated into an importance not belonging to them 
and persistently thrust forward at all times 
with an air of infallibility and pugnacity, as 
though nothing else was worth thinking or talk- 
ing about and no other view was possible. This 
course has done great harm. One must be broad 
as well as intense, must have judgment as well 
as zeal, must be guided by reason as well as 
emotion. Yet it should also be recognized that 
the taunt of hobby ridding is often made un- 

246 



SOME INTEKESTING QUESTIONS 

justly by those living half-heartedly, who wish 
to quiet their conscience and stifle conviction. 
To mention high godliness at all is to mention 
it too often for some who wish to be let alone 
in their indulgence of questionable practices. 
Nothing is cheaper and meaner than a sneer. 
There is no argument in it. There is, on the 
whole, far too little rather than too much em- 
phasizing of full salvation. 

3. How definitely should we make a "pro- 
fession" of high attainments? A frank and 
clear confession or avowal at proper times and 
places of what God has done for us is surely 
in order. We are witnesses for Christ. There 
can be no doubt that a plain, straight-forward 
relation of experience, in all honesty and humil- 
ity, has often been the means of doing great 
good. It need hardly be said that strict truth- 
fulness should be observed and propriety not 
violated. False modesty, which is not true hu- 
mility, covers up a great deal of light of which 
God's world and work have need. Let this big 
bushel be removed that the light may shine and 
the Lord be glorified. There is no necessity 
for using great swelling words or objectionable 

247 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

and incomprehensible expressions. "We are 
apostolically directed to give no occasion of 
stumbling in anything that our ministration be 
not blamed, and to take heed lest our liberty 
become a stumbling-block to the weak. There 
are some things lawful that are not expedient 
and that edify not. We should study with care 
our forms of expression. We should use no 
cant. But to let our mouth be stopped for no 
reason is quite a different matter, and does 
much harm both to ourselves and others. Min- 
isters especially should set an example in this 
thing. It is their duty and privilege to take 
the lead in their Churches and let no one of 
their members go beyond them in goodness or 
in devotion to true holiness, and to head off 
factions by maintaining their spiritual suprem- 
acy. While talk is not salvation, it has close 
relation to it, and is fully as important in its 
connection with the second work as with the 
first or conversion. Talk is sometimes called 
cheap, but silence, when speaking was a duty, 
has cost many people dear, bringing them heavy 
loss. 

4. What propriety is there in the phrase 
248 



SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS 

"made perfect in love?" Very little indeed 
at the present time. It over-emphasizes the 
divine factor and ignores the human. We know 
that God does not make or create character, 
whether of the highest or the lowest sort. It 
is the result of the concurrent action of many 
forces, a combination of the divine and human 
elements. God can not make us perfect either 
in love or in anything else which requires the 
co-operation of our own will. If it be said that 
this co-operation is taken for granted, even then 
the expression is faulty. We have shown in 
a previous chapter that perfection in love im- 
plies a great deal more than is commonly con- 
ceived by those who use the term so glibly and 
superficially, implies no less than a perfection 
in all the elements and aspects and manifesta- 
tions of love, such as are delineated, for ex- 
ample, in 1 Cor. 13, a godlike perfection, since 
God is love, a perfection which very few, with 
full apprehension of their words, would for a 
moment think of claiming. Who would dare 
stand up and declare, I was at such a time by 
divine power instantaneously made perfect in 
love, in patience, in humility, in unselfishness 

249 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

(including all its subtler, less commonly com- 
prehended forms), in self-control, in meekness, 
in trust, so that I have not for many years 
failed at all in any of these things? It would 
seem that only a very ignorant and very con- 
ceited man could do this. Yet our young min- 
isters are required at the bar of the Confer- 
ence to declare without equivocation or mental 
reservation that they expect to have this mag- 
ical and impossible transformation wrought 
upon them. If it be said that it means to them 
something entirely different and of no partic- 
ular importance, something each man can un- 
derstand as he pleases, then it seems to us 
that to ask it at such a solemn moment is tri- 
fling with the occasion, is unfair both to the 
questioner and to the questioned, and is wholly 
indefensible. It seems to us more than time 
that this Disciplinary question was radically 
changed or omitted. 

5. Just what can be obtained at once from 
God in answer to faith? The word instantane- 
ous has an important place in Methodism's posi- 
tion as to the processes of salvation. We have 
always believed in sudden conversions, in a 

250 



SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS 

quick conscious transition from darkness to 
light, quick in its culmination although pre- 
ceded perhaps by very considerable prepara- 
tion. Justification by faith has seemed to us 
to imply this, for faith is a definite laying hold 
of God's promises in some particular instant, 
a momentary act or operation of the mind. 
And, since sanctification is equally a work of 
grace conditioned on faith, that especially ep- 
ochal part of sanctification which takes place 
at the second crisis is wrought in the instant 
that faith sees its privilege and claims the 
promise. There is a definite moment, fiery, con- 
vulsive oftentimes, when the soul decisively 
turns with loathing from all known evil and 
with the whole strength of its nature adheres 
conclusively to God. In that moment there is 
an apprehension and appropriation of Christ 
to such an increased degree as marvelously 
to invigorate and strengthen the moral faculties 
so that the rebellious and disturbing tendencies 
of the inner nature not wholly subdued at re- 
generation are much further made right, pro- 
portionately to the light given and the faith 
the person is thereby enabled to exercise. In 

251 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

other words, the predominance of holy love, 
or the life divine, is very greatly increased, 
enough so as to inaugurate a shining era in ex- 
perience and signally change the character. It 
is one of the great hours of life when, usually 
with a shock of feeling, one is lifted out of 
the ruts of old habit and the soul is thrilled 
with a new undreamed-of liberty which puts 
a new aspect on existence. 

6. Just what in Christian experience or at- 
tainment necessarily requires time? The ac- 
quisition of knowledge. And so much depends 
on increased knowledge that this specification 
includes a great deal. The author of Hebrews 
reminds us (5: 14) that the senses are exercised 
to discern good and evil "by reason of use." 
St. Paul (Col. 1: 10, margin) speaks of our "in- 
creasing by the knowledge of God." "We love 
God in proportion as we know Him. A perfect 
love without perfect knowledge is not possi- 
ble. Until we are acquainted with God's re- 
quirements we can not intelligently and ef- 
fectively comply with them. Both our sin and 
our consecration have the closest possible con- 
nection with knowledge, the sin being aggra- 

252 



SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS 

vated by it and the consecration aggrandized. 
Low attainments in Christian knowledge mean 
a feeble, faltering, and partly carnal life. A 
man with low powers of moral discrimination, 
However fervent his feeling and sincere his 
purpose, will be a very imperfect, unsatisfac- 
tory Christian. The suffering and discipline 
of life have a very important part in the per- 
fecting of character, in its sweetening and so- 
lidification. The improvement of many, if not 
most, people in this particular as they grow 
older is very noticeable. Nothing but long prac- 
tice can make us perfect in the quick recog- 
nition of God's will as shown in events and 
the immediate acceptance of it as best. The 
bringing of the whole nature (thoughts, desires, 
affections) into complete harmony with the uni- 
verse which the Spirit of God actuates, is not 
a matter to be finished in a hurry or done with 
a jump. The thorough renewing of the inward 
springs of life, the reducing to perfect harmony 
of the entire kingdom of the soul in its remotest 
outlying districts, the identifying of the moral 
personality with the ever receding and enlarg- 
ing ideal, the substituting of right habits for 

253 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

wrong in all departments of one's being as 
larger light on what this covers streams in — all 
this requires time, and must be worked at as 
long as we live. 

7. Must we be "emptied" before we can 
be "filled?" There is a certain amount of plau- 
sibility in the figure looked at from one point of 
view, since consecration must precede faith. 
But more carefully considered, the figure is seen 
to be essentially incorrect and misleading. As 
a matter of fact the negative and positive works 
go on simultaneously in the soul. The destruc- 
tive and reconstructive processes proceed side 
by side. Just as far as one dies unto sin he lives 
unto God. Just as far as one puts off the old 
man he puts on the new man. More light always 
implies less darkness, more knowledge less ig- 
norance, more wisdom less folly, more strength 
less weakness, more beauty less ugliness, more 
love less selfishness. In the same way more 
of the grace or favor of God implies less in 
us which is contrary to God's nature — that is, 
less depravity. There can be no vacuum in 
the soul. As we are emptied of evil we are 
filled with righteousness. The spiritual man 

254 



SOME INTEKESTING QUESTIONS 

comes to life as the natural man goes to death. 
As self goes out Christ comes in ; and it is the 
indwelling Spirit of Christ which increasingly 
pushes self out and works the gradual trans- 
formation. The divine life developed conquers 
sin. There can be no instant when we or any 
of our powers are simply neutral, neither in 
favor nor disfavor with God. "We must be at 
all times either one thing or another, and at 
no two moments are we in precisely the same 
state. The decrease of depravity or sinful- 
ness, and the increase of holiness keep always 
even pace. They are not really two things, but 
one and the same thing looked at from different 
sides, like the decrease of darkness and the in- 
crease of light. A man is not absolutely free 
from all depravity, all the inevitable conse- 
quences of sin, until he is absolutely established 
in the largest development of every Christian 
grace and entirely conformed to all the will 
of God. One implies the other. Ever increas- 
ing purity means ever increasing perfection. 

8. In what sense can we lead a "perfect 
UfeV Only in what may be called a Pickwick- 
ian sense, merely technical or constructive, a 

255 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

restricted, accommodated sense. We have a 
perfect Savior, who will do all that is possible 
for our complete salvation, but we can not per- 
fectly avail ourselves of His infinite power, or 
become personally perfect. We may be per- 
fectly loyal to Him, true to the best we know, 
and this is much, for it brings freedom from 
condemnation ; but perfection in practice of life 
is another thing, implying so much of knowledge 
and wisdom and confirmed habits of the highest 
type, that it would seem only those would claim 
it who rush in where angels fear to tread. Per- 
fection in the sense of completely realizing the 
Christian ideal, is not for us. Nor perfection 
in the sense of completely fulfilling that moral 
law of God which remains unchanged as the 
standard of absolute, abstract right, a tran- 
scription of the divine nature, an expression 
of the divine mind, of the holiness of God, al- 
though not now is its perfect keeping the 
method or meritorious ground of salvation. 
Christ, with whom we link ourselves by faith, 
now satisfies those demands of the law which 
are beyond our present powers, making up our 
deficiency so far as that deficiency is an abso- 

256 



SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS 

lute necessity of our crippled state. Our part 
is the perfect fulfillment of our immediate per- 
sonal duty, the discharge of our present re- 
sponsibility before God. And with this we may 
well be content. It, of course, implies getting 
just as much of the perfect life as we can. 

9. 75 there more than one hind of holiness 
or love? This is a very important question, 
on the right answer to which much depends. 
Our answer is that there is but one kind of 
holiness, one kind of love, one kind of faith or 
trust in God (just as there is but one kind of 
depravity), all susceptible of very many de- 
grees. The quality is the same, though the 
quantity may be more or less. The quality of 
the man changes when he is more completely de- 
livered from the alloy of evil in his nature, more 
fully possessed by love, but the quality of the 
gold, or of the love, in him does not change 
whatever its quantity. At regeneration there 
is a predominant degree of holiness, when his 
nature is renewed in love, and as he appre- 
hends his larger privilege there is a larger de- 
gree of the same holiness. The patience of the 
least advanced believer is not so constantly or 

17 257 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

uniformly in exercise as that of the more fully 
developed Christian, but what there is of it is 
of the same nature, the bearing of provocation 
without disturbance or the suffering without 
complaint. All the work of God upon the hu- 
man heart is of the same sort or nature or 
kind, a freeing from fetters, a strengthening of 
the superior elements in their fight with the in- 
ferior, a restoring more or less fully of the lost 
image. The stages or steps or epochs reached 
mark larger degrees of precisely the same di- 
vine life which increasingly takes possession 
of the soul, expelling the old life. The progress 
of the Christian, then, is plainly a matter of de- 
grees; and there is no perfection of degrees, 
none which does not admit of still further in- 
crease. But whatever the degree of love, the 
love itself, divine love, a portion of God's very 
nature, is always the same, pure and perfect, 
expelling fear to the degree in which it pre- 
vails or becomes established. Every man has 
this perfect love (qualitatively, not quantita- 
tively) who is a real Christian. And a careful 
study of the context or connection of the pas- 
sages where this term "perfect love" appears 

258 



SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS 

in 1 John will show that the apostle used it in 
this qualitative sense. A clear comprehension 
of the point in this paragraph wonderfully sim- 
plifies matters, makes the Christian life one 
from beginning to end, does away with much 
confusion, prevents much wrong classification. 

10. What is the state before God of those 
Christians who refuse the higher path or turn 
back from treading it? We are not in the place 
of God to be able to give authoritative answer 
to this, we are not on the judgment seat, but 
we may venture an opinion. The New Testa- 
ment, while presenting a high standard in its 
precepts and prayers, recognizes as disciples 
and believers those who are very faulty and 
in part carnal. There is a normal Christian 
life, one fully worthy of the name, but those 
falling even very considerably below it are still 
counted as having a legitimate part in Jesus. 
There is a lower Christian life. Such as fol- 
low it are being saved, are the children of God 
(or at least His servants) although not in the 
fullest favor or acceptance, not entirely pleas- 
ing in His sight. 

It will not do to deny a considerable vitality 
259 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

and value to the lower path. Although the ad- 
mission is fraught with some danger, it is never- 
theless true that there are sins which do not for- 
feit our standing in God. Although the whole 
personality is more or less involved in every 
sinful act, it need not be in a fatal and final 
way. Indeed, it is very rarely that any single 
act embodies and exhausts the entire person- 
ality. That would be a sin unto death. The 
will may sin, must participate to constitute 
an action sin, but the central personality, the 
series of volitions, the ruling habit, the charac- 
ter of the man, is not given up to evil, has not 
chosen evil as its good. Sin may have captured 
certain volitions, but not the whole personality 
that exerts the volition, so as to own the man. 
There is something in the man deeper than his 
sin, and that something sets Godward. The 
ruling will is the will of God, however certain 
impulses escape its control and certain voli- 
tions run counter to the general tide. 

There may be much excuse (how much God 
only knows) for those in this lower path, in 
their inborn sluggishness of disposition, their 
unpropitious surroundings, their ignorance and 

260 



SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS 

dullness of mind, their incapacity of various 
kinds. .They are, perhaps, not capable of sus- 
tained excellence or lofty aspirations. Or their 
eyes are strangely holden to the more excellent 
way; their ears have not heard the call for en- 
tire separation from the world, they see no 
need of it. Their degree of condemnation for 
this will depend on their opportunities for 
knowing and doing better. But decisive con- 
demnation, the ruling out from the list of the 
redeemed, comes only when there is a decisive 
clear-eyed rejection of acknowledged duty. 
Those in the lower path lack the power and 
peace and deliverance from doubt and fear and 
care which those in the higher have. They go 
on foot instead of on wings, make slower prog- 
ress, have fewer visions of God. Their reli- 
gious life being feeble, there is more danger 
of its stopping altogether. If they are half 
asleep they may sink away into a fatal drowsi- 
ness. They are a drag on the wheels of the 
chariot of salvation, of little use compared with 
what they might be, and with little reward 
awaiting them. But we do well to be careful 
how we pass censure or apply sharp prods. 

261 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

Drawing is much better than driving, stroking 
than striking or stinging. 

11. Is there a difference between sins and 
infirmities? There certainly is. Sins are 
guilty, responsible transgressions of the moral 
law, such as the transgressor knew he could 
and therefore should have avoided. Innocent 
or wholly unintentional and unavoidable trans- 
gressions of this law are not sins, but simply 
infirmities. Actions which from the divine 
standpoint are wrong, but which we do without 
guilt because we do the best we can under the 
circumstances, are infirmities. We regret them, 
we strive to make them as few as possible, but 
we can never rid ourselves of them while in the 
flesh. They are inseparable from humanity in 
its present condition, inevitable concomitants 
of a more or less diseased body and a more or 
less enfeebled mind. We regret them, these 
failures to reach the ideal standard of perfect 
righteousness and flawless beauty of character, 
because we are thus compelled to present to the 
eyes of our Divine Friend a less pleasant sight 
than we would like to do, and are hampered in 
our powers of usefulness. It must be somewhat 

262 



SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS 

painful to God to see any of the effects of sin. 
He can not look with perfect satisfaction on any 
of the works of the devil. He can be perfectly 
pleased only with real rectitude in distinction 
from that conduct which is only rightly in- 
tended. 

But we must exercise great caution here. 
What are softly called infirmities and involun- 
tary transgressions, as a matter of fact quite 
often involve minute volitions escaping from us 
because of what is really moral weakness and 
carelessness. If so, they are not simply in- 
firmities but sins, sins of surprise and partial 
ignorance, comparatively unimportant, but 
nevertheless sins. They spring from remain- 
ing depravity, from something less than abso- 
lutely perfect self-control of our appetencies 
and susceptibilities. It is our business to come 
as near to the ideal each moment as may be 
within our power. It is a sin to fail to keep 
as perfectly as we might the perfect law; also 
to fail to press forward with the utmost possi- 
ble rapidity toward the goal of entire freedom 
from depravity. If through greater concen- 
tration of purpose, more steadfast attention, 

263 



^HE PERFECT LIFE 

keener watchfulness and closer application of 
mind to the presence of God — all, no doubt, 
within the compass of our powers — we might 
have escaped making a certain blunder, then 
is that blunder more or less blameworthy, and 
we can not wipe our mouths complacently and 
say we have not sinned for such and such a 
length of time. Avoidable errors in judgment, 
due to lack of perfect watchfulness or lack of 
attainable information, are sins requiring re- 
pentance and forgiveness. Ignorance must not 
be made a cloak for carelessness. Ignorance 
is often blameworthy; and the same may be 
said of conceit, obstinacy, and fanaticism. It 
is a sin to live even for a moment below our 
privileges and the highest possibilities of grace 
in our particular case. It is a sin to have been 
at any point less useful than we might; or to 
have made less progress in divine things than 
light and opportunity warranted. It is a sin 
to have our tendencies toward sin at any point 
or in any way stronger than they need to be. 
It is a sin to lose any opportunity to do a kindly 
act, to omit any beneficent deed which we could 
have accomplished. It is a sin to be actuated 

264 



SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS 

in any degree by improper motives. "Whatso- 
ever is not of faith is sin." "To him, there- 
fore, that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, 
to him it is sin." 

Henee for the holiest to pray daily, "Lord, 
forgive me my trespasses" is eminently fit, 
since no one but God can surely determine 
whether trespasses, or in other words, sins, 
have been that day committed. Who can be 
sure that his peace is as deep, and his love as 
strong all through the day as it might and 
should be ? Who can measure the utmost capa- 
bility of his spirit for love to God and man, and 
be sure that that capability is completely filled, 
be sure that there is no deficiency in the ardor 
or purity of his affection? Who is able to pene- 
trate all the unseen depths and secret places of 
his soul? How can one be sure whether the 
suggestions of Satan have been repelled with 
the utmost possible instantaneousness and ve- 
hemence, or whether, owing to some still re- 
maining slightly morbid state of the sensibil- 
ities, there has been a dalliance with them that 
was not necessary and hence was blameworthy? 
That a person is conscious of no transgression 

265 



^THE PEBFECT LIFE 

counts for but little. No one is a proper judge 
in his own case. Our conclusion, therefore, is 
that while there are infirmities — such as slow- 
ness of intellect, weakness of memory, frailty of 
body, without any moral quality whatsoever, 
most of what we are accustomed, pleasantly and 
soothingly, to term infirmities, on a closer in- 
spection, and by stricter, more accurate judg- 
ment, would have to be termed sins. 

12. May a clear distinction he made between 
sins and temptations? Undoubtedly. Tempta- 
tion is only another word for the excitement 
produced in the mind, or the feelings aroused, 
in the presence of an object liked but unlawful, 
instinctively desired but authoritatively forbid- 
den. This excitement is innocent and necessary. 
Tendencies to gratification, blindly impulsive, 
without reference to the moral quality of the 
action to which they urge, our natural propen- 
sities must always have, and hence they will 
always call for watchfulness and self-denial. 
Even if the sinful self, or selfishness, is entirely 
gone, there would remain an innocent self, or 
self-love, giving occasion for self-denial; that 
is, there will be pain in the path of duty, lay- 

266 



SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS 

ing a person open to temptation, as it did in 
the case of the Savior. 

Temptation passes into sin just when the 
desire commences to pass from its incipient, 
involuntary stage to the completed and volun- 
tary, just when the desire for the object or 
course of action seen to be contrary to God's 
law begins to be cherished even though but 
slightly, or is retained instead of being thrust 
vigorously away. Just when a man, having 
within him a drawing toward a certain thing, 
and perceiving also that it is not right under the 
circumstances to possess or pursue that thing, 
does nevertheless yield a little to the drawing 
or neglect to oppose or repel it, just then he 
begins to sin. To use the language of St. James 
(1: 14, 15), "Each man is tempted when he is 
drawn away by his own lust (or desire) and 
enticed; then the lust when it hath conceived 
(or come to full fruition by obtaining the con- 
sent of the will, the deciding factor) beareth 
sin." 

The line between temptation and sin, it will 
be perceived, is a very delicate one, and the as- 
sertion that it has not been passed for such and 

267 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

such lengths of time ought to be made only with 
great caution. There is a border land, some- 
what vague and indeterminate between tempta- 
tion and sin, which should lead to humility and 
carefulness in professions. Strong temptations 
are by no means proofs of great grace, as has 
been sometimes strangely stated. They are 
rather the contrary. Each victory makes the 
next easier. The power of habit comes in to 
help. So does the increase of knowledge and 
love and faith. The degree of ease and readi- 
ness with which we overcome temptation and 
avoid sin is an accurate test of our spiritual 
progress. The ripest saints are practically ex- 
empt from temptation; they have learned the 
secret of God's presence; are so recollected 
that they very rarely miss any indication of 
God's will, however slight; are so quick to 
recognize, by their vigilant and trained moral 
sense, the right or wrong of every incitement 
or suggestion that they are very seldom even 
for a moment misled; and have so deep an 
abhorrence of sin or anything approaching it 
that no sooner is it recognized than the whole 

268 



SOME INTEKESTING QUESTIONS 

force of their being, with resolute promptitude, 
fiercely thrusts it away. 

13. Is there a difference between being bap- 
tized with the Holy Ghost and being filled with 
the Holy Ghost? We think so. There seems 
ground for it both in Scripture and in experi- 
ence. A careful consideration of the many pas- 
sages involved,* which need not be quoted here, 
shows that all full-fledged believers who had 
been properly instructed in the meaning of 
Christian baptism and discipleship received the 
Holy Ghost when they accepted Christ. They 
were said, in the earlier days when the new dis- 
pensation was being inaugurated and the proph- 
ecy and work of the Baptist was fresh in men's 
thoughts, to be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 
Later other forms of expression were used, 
such as anointing, sealing, the earnest, the in- 
dwelling of the Spirit. They all referred to the 
same thing. The meaning is that the Holy 
Spirit took possession of the souls that were 
made over to Him in voluntary surrender, gave 

*Acts 1:5; 2:4; 4:31; 6:3; 7:55; 10:47; 19:2; Rom. 8:11, 15; 1 Oor. 
2:12; 3:16; 6:19; 2 Oor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13,14; 2:19-22; 4:30; Uohn 
2:20, 27. 

269 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

them a joyful token that they were now new 
creatures and adopted into the Divine Family. 
All that He received were baptized by Him. 

But when the apostle says to the Ephesians, 
whom he had already called (4:30) "sealed 
in the Holy Spirit/ > "Be ye filled with the 
Spirit" (5:18), it appears like an exhorta- 
tion for them to get something more than 
the initiatory imparting. And when various 
persons — Jesus, John the Baptist, Zaccheus, 
Elizabeth, Peter, Paul, Stephen, Barnabas — 
are said to be full of, or filled with, the 
Holy Ghost, with which fullness, wisdom, 
faith, power, goodness to a marked degree, 
and speaking the word with boldness, are 
linked, we can not resist the conclusion that 
these people had an extraordinary endowment 
which, either for the time being or permanently, 
made them unusually effective in service. It is 
the same now. All true Christians, being born 
from above, have a measure of the Spirit so 
that He dwells in them to some degree, but 
there is an additional fullness which comes to 
those who earnestly seek it and comply with 
the conditions. This fullness varies. The word 

270 



SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS 

has many degrees of completeness. It is rarely 
used in an exact or absolute way. The more 
of us He has, the more of Him we have. In one 
sense Pentecost can not be repeated, for the 
Spirit has come into the world to stay, and cer- 
tainly no one need wait ten days for His anoint- 
ing. But in another sense each one may have 
a personal Pentecost, when the Spirit's pres- 
ence becomes a deeper reality to him, and he is 
filled with God so far as utmost capacity now 
exists, and especially fitted or anointed for large 
service. 

14. Is there a direct witness of the Holy 
Spirit to the attainment of Christian perfec- 
tion? Assuredly not. How can there be? 
Where is the promise that the Holy Spirit will 
communicate intellectual propositions to the 
mind, or make a miraculous revelation to in- 
dividuals as to recondite points in theology, 
such as the total destruction of depravity In 
the sub-conscious regions of the soul? The 
Spirit imparts great peace and joy which may 
be taken as an evidence of God's acceptance, 
but in the total absence of Scripture authoriza- 
tion we have no right to interpret this feeling 

271 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

as proof that all depravity is gone. If this be 
once allowed, all sorts of extravagant interpre- 
tations of feeling may follow and the door is 
open wide for every kind of foolish fanaticism 
to which devout but ignorant and unbalanced 
minds are so liable. It has worked thus at this 
point notoriously. Great numbers, though 
plainly lacking in the fruits of perfect love, 
defy reproof by the easy assertion that God 
tells them they have perfect love in their heart 
whatever their life may appear to be. Many 
have claimed the witness of the Spirit to the 
approaching end of the world, and to many 
other chimeras or absurdities. Few things have 
done more harm than this groundless and un- 
scriptural assumption that we have the infal- 
lible backing of the God of all truth for what- 
ever private theological interpretation we may 
choose to put on our emotions.* 

* Practically all modern Methodist theologians of the first rank 
take this position— Drs. W. B. Pope, J. A. Beet, D. D. Whedon, John 
Miley, H. O. Sheldon, Olin A. Curtis, W. F. Tillett, etc., etc. Dr. 
Whedon said : " The Spirit testifies solely to this one fact— our being 
children of God. This special testimony can not be quoted for 
other facts than our sonship." Dr. Sheldon says: "While the 
Scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit testifies to sonship, they do 
not teach that he testifies to perfection in sonship. Only by revela- 
tion from an omniscient source can one know that there is no rem- 
nant of sinful tendency beneath consciousness." Many other sim- 
ilar quotations might be made, but it does not seem necessary. The 
matter is too plain for controversy. 

272 



SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS 

15. How can we know that we are fully 
saved? By the fruits produced through the 
Holy Spirit's abiding in our hearts and lives. 
The amount of our power against temptation, 
as has been already said, the ease with which 
the assault is repelled, is a very good test of 
our spiritual condition. So is our peace under 
circumstances that would naturally disquiet, 
our love of those who are not especially lovable, 
our triumph over trying conditions, our con- 
stant possession of the spirit of prayer. Our 
consciousness testifies to a certain extent, 
though it can, of course, say nothing as to the 
quiescent states of the soul, or the sub-conscious 
region. If by full salvation we mean anything 
pertaining to this hidden realm, there is no way 
to be absolutely certain about it. If we mean 
saved from all voluntary violations of God's 
known law, brought into complete loyalty, then 
we may be reasonably sure of such a condition 
when a considerable period of time has failed 
to afford any test which we did not meet. This 
is assurance enough for the practical working 
of life, for filling our hearts with joy unspeak- 
able and hallowed glee. If there is a future 

18 273 



L THE PEEFECT LIFE 

severer test awaiting us, one that will show 
some hitherto unsuspected defect in our conse- 
cration, we need not be troubled about that.. 
"Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." 
When another day comes we shall be ready to 
meet it. 

16. Are the terms "cleansing" "purifica- 
tion," and such like, helpful or otherwise? 
Otherwise. It is a figurative expression not 
adapted to the present conditions of psychology 
and sure to mislead. A great variety of meta- 
phors underlie religious speech. They must be 
taken for what they really mean, so far as we 
can find that out; it is not always the same as 
what they seem to say. Our task is to discover 
or invent those metaphors which best express 
the thought, and to change them from time to 
time when there is danger of their contamina- 
ting or confusing the sense, or when the condi- 
tions which gave rise to them have radically 
altered. Nothing could be more natural or 
appropriate for the disciples of Jesus, who were 
brought up as Jews and steeped in the associ- 
ations drawn from the bloody sacrifices which, 
through the preparatory ages, pointed forward 

274 



SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS 

to the Lamb slain on Calvary as a propitiation 
for the sins of the world, who trod the reeking 
temple courts and participated in the paschal 
ceremonies, than to employ the figure of blood 
cleansing to signify the change wrought by the 
Holy Spirit, when through faith in the saving 
efficacy of Christ's death, sinners were delivered 
from their sins. But this figure has ceased to 
be helpful now, for we have no such associa- 
tions with blood, and the idea of something be- 
ing literally or physically taken away from the 
soul, which the figure so strongly suggests, is 
wholly wrong. Instead of ' ' cleansing ' ' we think 
it much better to use empowerment or invigora- 
tion for the effect of God's incoming to the heart 
of man. It meets the requirements of modern 
philosophy every way better, and puts the 
thought of the inspired writers in guise more 
intelligible to us of the present day. It is a 
proper part of the process of translation to 
substitute a modern English idiom for the an- 
cient Jewish one. We can not see how any one 
should rightly object to it. Purity of heart 
in our present-day speech means simply Tight- 
ness of will. What was formerly thought puri- 

275 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

fication of the heart we would better term rec- 
tification of the will. This line of nomenclature 
will lead us out of the fog at many points and 
prove of very great practical value. 

17. Is the term "root of bitterness" a 
proper one? Not in the meaning put upon it 
in certain modern discussions and publications. 
It is a Biblical figure of speech found in Heb. 
12 : 15, 16. But taken wholly out of its connec- 
tion and used as a detached expression, it has 
been made to bear a meaning entirely foreign 
to that manifestly intended by its author and 
fraught with no little harm. It is there used 
in apposition with "any man that falleth short 
of the grace of God, any fornicator or profane 
person as Esau;" and unquestionably refers 
to a bitter or evil-minded individual, a dis- 
turber of the peace who is to be separated from 
the congregation. It has no connection what- 
ever, not the remotest, with the remaining de- 
pravity in the human heart. To give it this 
wrong turn leads one to think of something 
to be dug out, extirpated, eradicated, which, 
of course, would imply that sin had infused 
a foreign substance into man's being or added 

276 



SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS 

some extraneous matter. This is not so. What 
took place was a distortion or derangement, a 
disturbance of the equilibrium, a different com- 
bination of the same things, a change in the 
relative order of strength. What is needed is 
a putting down of the rebellion — this figure 
suits the case very well. There must be more 
and more subduing, controlling, regulating, sub- 
jecting. The increasing degree of ease with 
which the control of the lower propensities by 
the higher faculties is exercised marks the in- 
creasing departure or removal of depravity. 
No integral part of our human nature is taken 
away, but there is a reconstruction or re- 
arrangement of the powers whereby harmony 
and order is restored. 

18. What is the relation of sanctification to 
growth? The two words have the closest pos- 
sible affiliation, in that they both cover the en- 
tire course of the Christian life from beginning 
to end. The Christian must be always growing, 
and as he grows he progresses in sanctifica- 
tion. The conditions of the one are the con- 
ditions of the other. Every step of advance- 
ment in divine things lifts the soul into a higher 

277 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

holiness, that is, brings it nearer to God. If 
a person grows in the grace and knowledge 
of the Lord Christ he is getting rid continually 
of some of the depravity which has hitherto 
clung to him and put him out of grace, he is 
more closely approximating an absolute har- 
monization of all his* powers or a complete res- 
toration to the whole image of God. We are 
speaking of spiritual growth, which is, of 
course, quite different from mere mental or 
physical growth. A person might increase in 
either of these latter directions without increas- 
ing in the former. The mere enlargement of 
a man's intellectual powers by education would 
not enlarge his holiness. A man is made bet- 
ter, be his powers large or small, when the pro- 
portion of those powers dedicated to God in- 
creases. 

By far the greater part of the Christian's 
growth comes after the second deliverance 
rather than before. And his growth is much 
more rapid then. The very fact of his having 
made the strenuous effort necessary to procure 
the change in question betokens a deep earnest- 
ness of soul which is not likely to stop short 

278 



SOME INTEBESTING QUESTIONS 

of the largest attainable things. It indicates 
that he is resolved to make religion his one 
business, and when a man reaches that every- 
thing is possible to him, the way is open, ob- 
structions are removed, the goal, however dis- 
tant, is kept in plain sight. 

Growth is not uniform, any more in a man 
than in a tree. In some single months there 
is more growth than in all the rest of the year 
besides. Through the rest of the year there 
is solidification, without which the green timber 
would be useless. The period of growth when 
the woody fiber is quietly deposited between 
the bark and the trunk occupies, we are told, 
from four to six weeks in May and June. Even 
so, there are special times when the soul makes 
extraordinary progress, takes a great step up- 
ward, a step for which much that went before 
prepared, and which must be followed, for the 
best and most abiding results, by a great deal 
of careful discipline or solidification, which con- 
sists largely in the rectification of the habits. 
This latter, as well as the former, is a sort of 
growth, but with a difference. Our sanctifica- 
tion can not proceed in regular and unbroken 

279 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

course because we are constitutionally unable 
to use the means appointed with exact and uni- 
form procedure. Faith will sometimes flag. 
Energy dies down. Attention becomes dis- 
tracted. "Watchfulness wavers. The eye turns 
aside from its mark. A single hour may do 
much toward releasing the soul from some old 
bondage, and opening the way for mightier 
operations of the Holy Spirit. And the growth 
or progress or sanctification, whether slow or 
rapid, whether uniform or by a series of crises, 
is equally, it hardly need be said, effected by 
the Divine Spirit co-operating with the human. 
19. Why should we be fully saved? Any 
attitude toward God but that of entire loyalty, 
a consecration brought sharply up to the fur- 
thest, latest limit of light or knowledge as to 
duty, is wholly unworthy of the Christian and 
exceedingly dangerous. Jesus said, "Whoso- 
ever he be of you that renounceth not all that he 
hath, he can not be My disciple' ' (Luke 10 : 27). 
And many other such plain declarations and 
commands there be. There is probably no 
doubt in any mind that God requires an un- 
divided service; He could not do otherwise. 

280 



SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS 

And that which. He requires He stands ready to 
empower us to do. The provisions are ample. 
His grace and strength are sufficient, are avail- 
able, are urged upon us. We should be fully 
saved because any other course, any holding 
back, any doubtful indulgence, any permitted 
ambiguity in our position, greatly detracts from 
both usefulness and happiness. To be "a ves- 
sel unto honor and meet for the Master's use," 
is a very great thing, but well within our reach 
if we set our hearts upon it. How the Church 
is hampered and hobbled by the unfaithfulness 
and inconsistencies of its members. How little 
of aggressiveness there can be in any Christian 
who feels all the time that conscience is not 
at rest, and that even men of the world con- 
demn him. Such a one can not be thoroughly 
happy. He can know little of the deep enjoy- 
ment, the unruffled peace, the unbroken trust 
and freedom from anxiety that are the glorious 
lot of those who have committed themselves 
entirely to the Savior's keeping and know that 
all is well. With them the danger of back- 
sliding is reduced to a minimum, for since they 
are going full speed ahead obstacles that other- 

281 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

wise would be serious are dashed from their 
path without trouble* All motives indeed com- 
bine to incite us to take the higher path — God's 
commands, our Savior's love, the Master's 
glory, the prosperity of the Church, gratitude 
for God's mercy, our own happiness, safety, 
and usefulness, increased comfort here and en- 
hanced reward hereafter. 

20. Why are there so few who seem to be, or 
claim to be, fully saved? Those who are mak- 
ing an earnest effort to follow the Lord fully, 
who are faithful to every duty, ready for every 
good word and work, blameless in thought and 
deed, steadfast, immovable, always abounding 
in the work of the Lord, prompt in action, kindly 
in speech, generous in giving, charitable in judg- 
ment — do not indeed appear to be numerous or 
to constitute a large proportion of the Church 
membership. "We have already indicated that 
natural difficulties account for it in part. God, 
we are disposed to think, does not expect a great 
deal of some people. Where little is given 
little is required. Nevertheless, it is undoubt- 
edly true that nearly all could be better than 
they are, and if they could they should. One 

282 



SOME INTERESTING QUESTIONS 

reason for their little interest in the higher 
path is the opprobrium and odium which has 
gathered around it, particularly in some circles 
and sections, by reason of the false or unfor- 
tunate teaching about it which has prevailed, 
together with the extravagances, eccentricities, 
and inconsistencies of its professors. This has 
had more influence than it ought, has been seized 
upon as an excuse when it was not strictly a 
reason, just as many outside the Church cast 
up the same things against its members. Some 
real ground for it, however, there has been. 
It seems to us that if the matter is presented 
on the lines laid down in this book this diffi- 
culty will be mainly obviated, and this glorious 
doctrine will have a better chance to take the 
place it deserves to have in all our Churches. 
The worldly element in the Church will always 
oppose anything that makes them uncomfort- 
able, and there will always be something of a 
cross involved in coming out from the majority; 
but this need not and should not be aggravated 
by unreasonable, indefensible presentations of 
the truth. 

21. What general counsels and directions 
283 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

may he added? Be honest, above all — honest 
in the interpretation of Scripture, not twisting 
the passage out of its natural meaning as in- 
dicated in the context in order to make it seem 
to support a doctrine; honest in confessing 
transgressions, not covering them up or glozing 
them over in the interests of a theory or of 
supposed consistency; honest with opponents, 
making whatever concessions the facts call for 
and truth demands. Be candid and sincere at 
all costs. Be real. Abominate all that is arti- 
ficial and fictitious. The doctrine has greatly 
suffered in our Church at this point. 

Be obedient. To go where God wants us to 
go, to stay where He wants us to stay, to say 
what He wants us to say, to be what He wants 
us to be, admirably sums up requirements and 
leaves little to be desired. If we obey Him the 
first time He speaks, and are perfectly pliable 
in His hands, we shall find that He is leading us 
out into a wonderful life of conformity to Him- 
self and satisfaction with His orders. The di- 
rections come one step at a time, and only as 
we yield ourselves implicitly to His guidance 

284 



SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS 

moment by; moment can we make swift prog- 
ress. 

Do not over-emphasize emotions and frames, 
for it is faith, not feeling, on which we must 
rely. But, on the other hand, do not belittle 
or stifle emotion. It is possible and worth 
while to cultivate it. We need its stimulus and 
its consolation. The singing of hymns, or their 
committal to memory for the purpose of re- 
petition if we can not sing, is an important 
help. A good warm prayer-meeting imparts 
strength. Our hearts should burn within us 
by the way while Jesus speaks to us and opens 
to us the Scripture. The cup of our gratitude 
may well run over as we think of what He has 
done for us. A glow of love to Christ is fitting, 
nay is inevitable, for those who realize the 
glorious personal friendship of the Savior, 
and this glow may well show itself in face and 
language. 

Take great care about terms and forms of 
expression. Have we said too much about this? 
It is not a small matter, for heedlessness about 
it greatly hinders the work of God. "Why should 

285 



THE PEEFECT LIFE 

we needlessly give offense, and convey to many 
a meaning which we had not at all in our mind? 
We can be definite and distinct in our testi- 
mony without being belligerent and controver- 
sial. We must attract and not repel so far as 
possible. Nearly all the trouble that has come 
to be connected with this doctrine in our Church 
has come from the wrong use of certain words, 
the traditional use, in no way essential or de- 
manded by principle. Wisdom and the best in- 
terests of Methodism demand a change. 

The main thing is to get absolutely right 
with God, so far as we know what that is or 
can compass it, and to do so at once. Believe 
for full salvation, a salvation commensurable 
with advancing light and suitable for one who 
has been many years in the way. Secure it 
somehow. Make haste about it. Be not lost 
in the fogs and mists of indefiniteness. Lay 
hold of whatever present duty and privilege 
God makes plain. Get it, but do not imagine 
that everything has been got, that there never 
can be any fuller consecration, any ampler in- 
flow of the life of Jesus, any more perfect su- 

286 



SOME INTEEESTING QUESTIONS 

premacy of the Spirit, any more complete con- 
trol of the flesh and its weaknesses. Get it, 
but do not exaggerate it, or cherish false hopes 
concerning it, lest there be disappointment and 
loss, as there has been in many, many cases. 
Get it, but do not think it sets you on a pin- 
nacle whence you can look down on others who 
may not have it or may have received it in a 
different way and call it by another name ; do 
not think you are so far advanced that you 
can not learn from others, from many who are 
not in your precise circle. Get it, but do not 
condemn others for not getting it; we can not 
judge of their responsibilities and qualifica- 
tions; we are not all made alike. Getting it 
means getting a stronger grasp on Christ, a 
clearer vision of the Savior's face, a closer 
walk with God; means being more sensitive 
to the Spirit's whisper, more tender with the 
erring, more eager to save the lost, more self- 
denying, more humble, more ambitious in spir- 
itual lines, more zealous, more like Jesus. Is 
this not well worth while? Is there any- 
thing else to be prized in comparison with it? 

287 



THE PERFECT LIFE 

Reader, you may have it. Do not delay. May 
the Spirit of God so apply to your heart the 
truths taught in these pages that a wonderful 
uplift may be yours, filling the future with a 
radiance of bliss such as you had not hitherto 
thought possible to mortals. 

"Whether we climb, whether we plod, 

Space for one task the scant years lend, 
To choose some path that leads to God, 
And keep it to the end." 



288 



APPENDIX 



19 



APPENDIX 

Those who have read the preceding eight chap- 
ters will be able to judge how far we have 
carried out the promise of the preface to pre- 
sent a clear, simple, straight-forward, reason- 
able statement concerning this subject which has 
so long been a source of strife in Methodism, 
and yet which lies so near to the foundation 
of its best life. They will see in what respects 
this presentation differs from, and in what re- 
spects it agrees with, that which has been more 
usually made. It will be perceived for one 
thing that we have dealt very sparingly indeed 
with quotations, not paying very much heed 
to so-called authorities. This course has been 
followed, not from any lack of proper respect, 
we trust, to our predecessors (we have high 
regard for some of them), but from a desire that 
the reader should use his own mind, as we have 
done ourselves, unbiased by eminent names, 
and from a wish to save space. Perhaps a few 
brief extracts now, however, when they will not 
interrupt the argument or distract the reader's 
attention, may serve with some as confirmation 
that we have told the truth. 

291 



APPENDIX 

Dr. Joseph Agar Beet, the leading com- 
mentator and theologian of the English Wes- 
leyan Church, has put out two small volumes — 
"Holiness as Understood by the Writers of the 
Bible/ ' and "Holiness Symbolic and Keal" — 
within the last few years. They are so fully 
in accord with our own views, long previously 
adopted, that we take special pleasure in giving 
two extracts from them. 

"This deliverance [from all sin by the death 
of Christ] does not imply the annihilation of 
the inward tendency to sin, so that we shall no 
longer find it in us as a force against which 
we have to watch and to contend. For, if Christ 
by His own presence and power in our hearts 
gives us complete and constant victory over the 
hostile force within us, so that it no longer 
consciously molds our acts or words or 
thoughts, we are already saved from all pol- 
luting power of sin. A tendency to evil which 
is every moment trodden under foot will cause 
us no spiritual shame. Such victory the words 
of 1 John 1 : 7 certainly announce ; and, I think, 
nothing more. Then will 'the peace of God 
guard our thoughts' (Phil. 4:7) that they go 
not astray. Then are we (1 Pet. 1:5) ' guarded 
in the power of God though faith,' and (Eom. 
6: 11) 'dead to sin;' for evil can not obtain our 
consent and thus soil our conscience, even 
though it come with the accumulated force of 
habit ; and through the death of Christ our old 

292 



APPENDIX 

life of sin has altogether ceased. This com- 
plete and abiding victory over all sin in thought, 
word, or deed, marks, I venture to believe, a 
stage of the Christian life higher than justi- 
fication and sufficiently definite to be an object 
of thought and faith. The discovery that by 
faith Jesus saves us now by His power from 
all sin, has been an era in the spiritual life of 
thousands. It may be suitably called Full Sal- 
vation. But, although day by day as we trample 
them under foot the inward forces of evil be- 
come weaker, and by their increasing weakness 
reveal our spiritual growth, yet I do not find 
anywhere in the Bible reason to believe that 
they may now by our faith or at any future 
time in our lives be entirely annihilated. . . . 
In more ways than one Christian purity ad- 
mits of infinite growth; and for more reasons 
than one it admits of no finality. Not only do 
we experience a progressive weakening of the 
evil forces within us, but even the confidence 
with which we grasp the promise of purity and 
obtain its fulfillment dawns in most cases grad- 
ually and may increase without limit. And in- 
creasing faith is accompanied by victory more 
and more complete. Moreover, our deliverance 
from sin is in proportion to our consciousness 
of sin; and therefore in proportion to the clear- 
ness of our spiritual light and our nearness to 
the Light of Men. Consequently as, day by 
clay, we rise nearer to Christ we discover in 

293 



APPENDIX 

ourselves subtle elements of sin unsuspected 
before. And we find by glorious experience 
that each newly discovered stain the blood 
of Jesus washes away. In these senses, then, 
Christian purity admits of infinite growth. For 
I can find no hint in the Bible of a degree of 
spiritual life in which increasing light will not 
reveal in us elements of evil unseen before, 
and I can not conceive such. Consequently 
Christian purity admits of no finality. But 
since Christ is ever ready to save us now from 
all conscious defilement, we may speak of it 
as offered to us in a certain and very blessed 
completeness.* 

"The language quoted above ['the blood of 
Jesus cleanses from all sin'] does not neces- 
sarily imply annihilation of all inherited tend- 
encies to evil or of the influence of formed 
habits of sin; for these do not defile unless 
yielded to. Consequently a felt tendency to evil 
trampled under foot by the power of God 
is not inconsistent with the purity described 
above. So Christ, though dead to sin, is 
ever from His throne carrying on war against 
it. These passages teach plainly complete vic- 
tory over every temptation to sin, a victory 
gained for us by the death of Christ. For we 
can not be dead to sin while we are led astray 
and polluted by it. But if as each temptation 

*" Holiness as Understood by the Writers of the Bible," 1894. 
Pages 65 and 66, 

294 



APPENDIX 

rises, it is overcome, even though we be con- 
scious of its presence as a conquered enemy ever 
ready to rebel and, therefore, an abiding dan- 
ger, then are we kept by the power of God both 
cleansed from sin and dead to sin. This dis- 
tinction is of utmost practical importance. For 
many who have ventured to accept the full sal- 
vation promised in the Gospel have been dis- 
appointed to find the old tendencies to evil, 
perhaps after a period of apparent quiescence, 
again asserting themselves and endeavoring to 
regain their lost power; and thus occasioning 
fresh conflict with a foe supposed to be dead. 
The disappointment is needless. If we abide 
in faith and thus abide in God, each temptation 
will be followed by victory. And each victory 
will weaken the power of our adversary; and 
will reveal the impregnability of the fortress 
in which we have taken refuge. Such habits 
can be eradicated only as they had been formed, 
viz: by a course of action.' ' . . . " From all 
this we learn that the New Life in Christ is 
designed by God to be sustained progress in 
knowledge and faith, each helping the other, and 
in the development of character; on the other 
hand, along this upward path we have found 
definite points of advance, each marking a new 
era and leading up to still further and more 
rapid progress."* 

In fullest accord with this may be cited some 

* " Holiness Symbolic and Real," 1910. Pages 110, HI, 128. 

295 



APPENDIX 

of our best Methodist theological writers on 
this side of the water. "We quote four (all we 
have room for) who stand for very many others 
no whit inferior. 

Listen to Dr. D. D. Whedon. He says : 6 ' Our 
inherent depravity is not entirely removed by 
regeneration until the regeneration is completed 
at the resurrection." "Then for the first mo- 
ment the impairment we, one and all, have de- 
rived from Adam and sin shall be completely 
repaired. " "We think it accords with Wesleyan 
Theology to say, that the amissibility of even 
the most entire sanetification in our proba- 
tionary life is based in a residue of our heredi- 
tary moral debility. Just because it is part 
of the great racial impairment waiting the great 
racial repairment. And just because also it is 
such a correlation of the soul with temptation, 
belonging to our nature inherited from the fall, 
as leaves us, as Mr. Wesley repeatedly states, 
inferior to Adamic perfection. Whatever in- 
feriority we possess below unfallen Adam must 
be part of the loss we have suffered from fallen 
Adam."* 

Hear Dr. Miner Eaymond: "Entire saneti- 
fication is not salvation from all the inherited 
effects of the first transgression; it is a com- 
plete salvation, but not complete in the sense 
of being a full restoration to original right- 

* " Statements Theological and Critical," page 820. " Methodist 
Quarterly Review," July, 1874, page 492. 

296 



APPENDIX 

eousness. . . . The inherited effects of 
the fall, as to man's physical nature, will 
not be entirely removed until the resurrec- 
tion from the dead; nor will all the inherited 
effects of the fall as to man's intellectual nature 
be removed entirely until the saint is glorified 
in Heaven; and as man's moral and religious 
natures are conditioned directly upon his phys- 
ical and intellectual natures and indirectly upon 
his earthly surroundings, it is reasonable to 
infer that some traces of the inherited results 
of the first sin will remain in these latter na- 
tures till man is released from the conditions 
and limitations of his earthly state and is, body, 
soul, and spirit, prepared for and admitted to 
his heavenly estate. . . . Traces of the fall 
remain in man's physical, intellectual, moral, 
and religious natures till glorification in heaven 
removes them. " # 

Bishop Foster similarly speaks: "By com- 
mon consent a damage has come to the soul by 
,sin that in some respects is irreparable while 
it remains in the body." "An ethically perfect 
soul is one which perfectly knows its law and 
perfectly obeys it — a soul whose intellect un- 
erringly discerns between things which ought 
to be and those which ought not to be; a soul 
delicately sensitive to slightest approach of 
evil or wrong; a soul whose affections are so 
regulated that only the things are loved which 

*" Systematic Theology," Vol. II, pages 881-888. 
297 



APPENDIX 

ought to be loved, and whose desires do not 
covet things that are discerned to be wrong; 
a soul that supremely loves God, and revolts 
at whatever would displease Him ; a soul rightly 
affected toward the welfare of all other sentient 
existences, and loving other souls as it loves 
itself; a soul whose will is unfalteringly deter- 
mined to all righteousness, and against all un- 
righteousness ; a soul that with eager delight 
chooses both to do and to suffer all that it ought 
to do and suffer, and promptly refuses to do 
everything that it ought not to do every moment 
of its existence, with perfect freedom and full 
consciousness of power to the opposite, and 
in all possible temptations to the opposite. It 
is perfectly obvious that this ideal has never 
been reached by but one man on the earth. It 
was reached by Jesus of Nazareth." " There 
are no ideally perfect souls on earth, and never 
will be." " There is no Christian soul, what- 
ever its attainments in grace, that does not feel 
that it has not exhausted the possibilities of 
grace."* 

Here are a few words from Bishop S. M. 
Merrill: "Some hold that redemption will lift 
us to the height from which man fell ; but that 
consummation will require resurrection power. 
. . . None of us look for sinless perfection in 
this life. . . . While we may live in such inti- 
mate companionship with the Holy One that 

* " Philosophy of Christian Experience," pages 159, 189, 151, 152. 

298 



APPENDIX 

we shall not willfully commit sin we shall be so 
encompassed with the limitations of our under- 
standing and the infirmities of our being that 
the word sinless will not apply to our highest 
possible development. ' 9 "So long as we live 
we shall be doing things that ought not to be 
done, and leaving undone things that ought to 
be done. Nor will all our mistakes be innocent. 
Many of them will or may be harmful to our- 
selves and others. In some we shall be blame- 
worthy. More attention, warmer love, less self- 
ishness — all possible — would have saved the 
wrong inflicted. We shall therefore always 
need forgiveness."* 

Perhaps in addition to these words from 
modern authors of note it may be well to give 
some sentences from Wesley's much praised 
"Plain Account of Christian Perfection." The 
great Methodist founder says: "We can not 
avoid sometimes thinking wrong till this cor- 
ruptible shall have put on ineorruption. " "A 
mistake in opinion may occasion mistake in 
practice. Every such mistake is a transgres- 
sion of the perfect law. I believe there is no 
«uch perfection in this life as excludes these 
involuntary transgressions which I apprehend 
to be naturally consequent on the ignorance 
and mistakes inseparable from our mortality." 
"It is as natural for a man to mistake as to 
breathe, and he can no more live without the 

* " Aspects of Christian Experience," pages 227-230. 

299 



APPENDIX 

one than the other; consequently no man is 
able to perform the service which the Adamic 
law requires. And no man is obliged to per- 
form it." (Pp. 63, 64, 67, 108.) 

We have cited "Wesley with some reluctance 
because we are well aware that he can also be 
cited with equal cogency on the other side, and 
because of his manifest inconsistencies, as well 
as the remoteness of the time in which he wrote. 
On these accounts his words can not now have 
very much weight with the judicious. We agree 
with Professor W. F. Tillett, Dean of the Theo- 
logical Faculty in Vanderbilt University, who 
says : "If Wesley's sermons are set up as a sys- 
tem of Christian doctrine it must be conceded 
that they are in many respects inadequate, in- 
harmonious, unsatisfactory, perplexing, open to 
criticism. To set him before the world as a 
theologian and as an authority in doctrine is 
to do him a great wrong, and subject him to 
needless criticism. He has suffered greatly in 
this way at the hands of his friends. But he 
is the best friend of Wesley who, seeing where 
his true greatness lies, sets him forth, not as 
the model and authoritative theologian, but as 
the spiritual preacher and the great religious 
leader. If one should take up John Wesley's 
writings and examine them as if they were a 
systematic theology to find a logical and self- 
consistent treatment of the doctrine of holiness, 
it would not be surprising if he should reach 

300 



APPENDIX 

the conclusion that it is practically impossible 
to reconcile Wesley with himself, owing to the 
fact that his writings contain here and there 
statements and views that are incapable of be- 
ing harmonized with statements and views 
found elsewhere in his writings. He claimed 
that these writings, gathered together and re- 
published later in life without alteration, were 
self -consistent. And they were self -consistent 
as he read them,, and saw everywhere pervad- 
ing them the spirit that was passionately pur- 
suing the perfect life. But entire dogmatic and 
theological self- consistency and harmony — they 
are not there. And all the proof that is needed 
to justify this assertion is to point to the end- 
less discussions that have been going on for a 
hundred years over the Methodist doctrine of 
Christian Perfection as Set forth in the writ- 
ings of John Wesley. A careful student of 
Wesleyan theology will find that there are two 
distinct and fundamentally different views of 
Christian perfection that are merged together 
in Wesley's writings."* 

Professor Curtis, of Drew Theological Sem- 
inary, has some remarks of similar purport : "I 
have found no way of harmonizing all of Wes- 
ley's statements at this point ; and I am inclined 
to think that he never entirely cleared up his 
own thinking concerning the nature and scope 
of sin. At first I believed that a path out of this 

* " Personal Salvation," pages 512-514, 

301 



APPENDIX 

seeming inconsistency might be found by means 
of an exact chronology, but a severer examina- 
tion of all bis writings forced me to give up 
even that hope. . . . Wesley can give no funda- 
mental answer to the question, What becomes 
of the wrong disposition? for the simple reason 
that he was all mixed up in his psychology, I 
am not one of these courageous men who dare 
to say that John Wesley had at the bottom of 
his thinking a consistent psychology. My opin- 
ion rather is that he was a very crude realist, 
but usually restless under that unspeakable 
curse, and trying to break away without ever 
being fully able to accomplish his purpose."* 
A volume called "Growth in Holiness," is- 
sued by the present writer sixteen years ago 
(and still selling by the Methodist Book Con- 
cern) was set upon with the utmost animosity 
by those who neglected to pause long enough 
before denouncing it to ascertain what it ac- 
tually taught. Its positions were substantially 
the same as those in this book, and those posi- 
tions came forth from the whirlwind of articles 
and volumes by which they were so virulently 
assailed without being overthrown in a single 
instance, or shaken in the slightest degree. No 
valid ground was found in reason or Scripture 
against any one of them, which was, of course, 
the reason for the abuse so plentifully bestowed 
upon the author. That volume performed a 

* " The Christian Faith," pages 878, 883. 

302 



APPENDIX 

service, it seems to us, fully demanded then, 
which does not need to be repeated now. Those 
against whose harmful teaching it was consid- 
erably directed have, nearly all, passed on to 
another world, and have left no successors of 
similar prominence. The atmosphere has 
changed and cleared. Hence we have been very 
glad in this volume to give more space to posi- 
tive constructive work, the previous task of 
demolition having been so largely accomplished. 
"Growth in Holiness' ' will still remain useful 
for those who need to be shown the glaring and 
harmful unsatisfactoriness of most former 
Methodist teachings on this subject. The 
ground sometimes has to be cleared of obstruc- 
tions before a new edifice can safely be reared. 
The evils which resulted from the old meth- 
ods, and against which "Growth in Holiness" 
was a vigorous protest, still to some degree re- 
main, particularly in special sections of the 
Church and country where a certain class of 
"holiness" papers circulate, and violent ad- 
vocates of those views are abroad. There is a 
certain fanaticism which ever lurks at the door 
of devout ignorance. Fanaticism is the fruit 
of strong emotions and a vigorous will, accom- 
panied by a narrow intellectual outlook and the 
disparagement of reason. There are extrava- 
gances which naturally pertain to unbalanced 
minds not sufficiently steadied by wide reading 
and deep thinking, minds only capable of con- 

303 



APPENDIX 

fused emotionalism. The evils which abound 
in such circles, and which such men propagate, 
Bishop Foster summarizes in a trenchant sen- 
tence worth reprinting: "That there are tend- 
encies to over-profession, separation, spiritual 
egotism, pride, antinomianism, a freeing from 
the common law of duty, schism of the body of 
Christ, uncharitable judging of others, setting 
up a censorship over the pulpit, self-assertion 
and overweening confidence, a depreciation of 
the ordinary means of grace, fanaticism, no one 
who is observant can doubt."* He mildly, 
euphemistically calls them "tendencies." But 
they are actualities, greatly to be deplored, and 
following inevitably from the teachings re- 
ferred to. They did so in Wesley's day; they 
have done so ever since. The only way to pre- 
vent them is to correct the teachings from 
which they spring. The spiritual pride and cen- 
soriousness, for example, which is so disgust- 
ing and offensive, naturally attaches to the de- 
lusion that they have been at a stroke delivered 
from all that depravity or remains of the fleshly 
mind which others have to put up with as long 
as they live, so that their piety is different in 
kind, not simply in degree, from that of others, 
and they have an infallible witness of the Holy 
Spirit to the fact of their great exaltation. The 
outrageous and unwarrantable perversions of 
Scripture so repugnant to all people of honesty 

*" Philosophy of Christian Perfection," page 173. 

304 



APPENDIX 

and intelligence come necessarily from the fact 
that Scripture as rightly interpreted by gram- 
mar and lexicon does not lend sanction to the 
vagaries of this special theory. The schismat- 
ical leaning and assumed necessity for a sepa- 
ration of the pure from the impure have re- 
sulted, in the past decade or two, in the forma- 
tion of several small bodies basing their mem- 
bership mainly on this doctrine, but we have 
not observed that their success, in any impor- 
tant sense of that word, has been commensurate 
with their expectations or largely superior to 
that of those Churches from which they came 
out. 

Those Churches are composed, with refer- 
ence to this subject, we take it, of three classes : 
1. The indifferent, the great mass of more or 
less worldly, nominal Christians, content with 
a low state of grace, seeing no need for any- 
thing more, not ambitious for any close walk 
with God. Some of them stand ready to be- 
come bitter opponents of holiness if they are 
pushed too hard about it, and told it is their 
duty to be other than they are. 2. The partisan, 
who are sticklers for a shibboleth, narrow, con- 
ceited fanatics, with no conception that there 
is a difference in the meaning of words, no un- 
derstanding that the very spirit which they 
show is enough to condemn them. This is not 
a large class, but it is very noisy and pugna- 
cious, and while doing some good does also no 

20 305 



APPENDIX 

little harm, chiefly in that it deters many, for 
fear of being classed with them, from coming 
out decidedly on the side of full salvation. 
3. The earnestly and reasonably religious who 
combine common sense and deep devotion, who 
are on the stretch for more godliness, but are 
not bound up with any special set of terms. 
They are consecrated to the Lord quite fully, 
and are seeking for larger light, better service. 
They are the main hope of the Church, and we 
believe are steadily increasing. This book is 
designed to make their numbers larger. 

An edifying extract from Dr. Adoniram 
Judson Gordon's "Ministry of the Spirit" suit- 
ably comes in here. He says: "It is possible 
that one may experience a great crisis in his 
spiritual life, in which there is such a total sur- 
render of self to God and such an infilling of 
the Spirit that he is freed from the bondage of 
sinful appetites and habits, and enabled to have 
constant victory over self instead of suffering 
constant defeat. If the doctrine of sinless per- 
fection is a heresy, the doctrine of contentment 
with sinful imperfection is a greater heresy. It 
is not an edifying spectacle to see a Christian 
worldling throw stones at a Christian perfec- 
tionist." 

It surely is not. Nor can the perfectionist 
either do much at the stone throwing business 
with any great degree of profit or credit. There 
has been too much of it on both sides. Both 

306 



APPENDIX 

have been to blame; the perfectionist for his 
failure effectually to reproduce Christ while 
making a profession which justified expectation 
of high things; the worldling for his failure 
even to attempt such reproduction, and for his 
shameful complacency with a life that in no 
way resembled the Master's. We can not af- 
ford to be in either of these classes, either the 
first or the second indicated above. The third 
is the only one that the Savior can wholly ap- 
prove. 

This book, of course, will not be in favor 
with either class of extremists, with the car- 
nally-minded and lukewarm, worldly professors 
who so largely fill our Churches, or with the 
hobbyists whose minds are bound up in a cer- 
tain narrow round of phrases which we have 
seen fit to discard. But we hope that the third 
class mentioned above, who combine reason and 
devotion, may find it greatly helpful, a clarifier 
of thought and an intensifier of piety. To their 
care we commit this which may perhaps with 
some reason be called a new " plain account of 
Christian perfection.' 9 

It will be sufficiently evident, we think, to 
those who have perused this book that its main 
contentions are : 1. No complete sanctification 
at the new birth; 2. A place for large benefit 
from a second, subsequent, distinct work of 
further sanctification ; 3. No absolutely com- 
plete sanctification at this second epoch, or at 

307 



APPENDIX 

any of the other epochs which may follow; 
4. Perpetual progress, as long as we live, to- 
ward the full realization of the ethical ideal or 
entire likeness to Christ. 

From this statement it will be manifest, we 
hope, that we have no quarrel with the main 
lines of Wesleyan theology on this subject, that 
we are entirely orthodox as regards everything 
really essential. It ought also to be clear just 
what must be done by those who may wish to 
controvert this volume. They must set them- 
selves to prove that the ordinary Christian be- 
liever is completely sanctified in the largest and 
fullest sense of the term at conversion, needing 
nothing further but ordinary growth. Or they 
must devote their energies to formulating an 
argument that all depravity in the fullest com- 
prehensiveness of that term, defined as we de- 
fine it, is removed at the second deliverance, or if 
not then at some other similar crisis that comes 
later. Few, if any, will care to claim that every- 
thing is done at first. Some will think that the 
integrity and vitality of Methodist doctrine de- 
mands that all which remains of depravity after 
conversion be removed ("extirpated," "eradi- 
cated," they like to call it) at the second stroke. 
But if they will strictly define their terms and 
logically adhere to them, we think they will come 
out just where we have. "What is the use of 
contending for a word? We have no interest 
in such logomachy. If our opponents are sure 

308 



APPENDIX 

the old phrases are clearer, more effective, bet- 
ter for the spiritual life of the Church, then, of 
course, they must adhere to them. We will not 
blame them or have any quarrel with them. 
Let them go their way and help those who pre- 
fer their mode of statement. It is their priv- 
ilege and duty. We will do the same. But we 
do not think it too much to ask that they read 
this book with some little care before attacking 
it, if they feel that they must attack it, and get 
its positions correctly in their mind before at- 
tempting to overthrow them. This was so 
rarely, if ever, done by those attacking the other 
book that we feel such a caution to be necessary. 
We protest in advance against further unchris- 
tian treatment of that sort. We declare our- 
selves, what we hope this book shows, an in- 
tense lover of holiness in all senses of the word, 
and of the Methodist Episcopal Church in which 
for many generations our ancestors have had 
an honored place. 

We trust our readers will conclude that the 
theory which this volume has outlined does not 
lead one into metaphysical bogs unfathomable, 
or raise points of doubtful philosophy and rec- 
ondite, obsolete theology. It steers clear, we 
think, of distracting, belligerent dogmatics and 
uncharitable, unprofitable controversy. It af- 
fords no standing ground for partisanship, 
cliquism, or schismatical proclivities. It is un- 
assailable, unmistakable, strategic, clear, con- 

309 



APPENDIX 

elusive. It is sufficiently Wesleyan to secure 
all the benefits which the Church has found in 
the ordinary holiness movement. It is suf- 
ficiently catholic to unite under its banner all 
genuine believers in Jesus, all deeply earnest 
souls who are hungering for the closest possible 
walk with God. It leaves in the background 
certain incomprehensible, speculative quiddities 
in no way important or productive of the best 
results, but which have, on the contrary, led to 
jnuch evil. It gives free scope for a thoroughly 
reasonable, simple, Scriptural propaganda such 
as we have not had for a long while, and can not 
have under the more usual teachings, but which 
the Church tremendously needs. It lays the 
emphasis on a right will and a constant growth. 
It makes the Christian life one from beginning 
to end, as the Bible does, one in kind but sub- 
ject to ever-increasing degrees of knowledge, 
which, when followed by corresponding conse- 
cration, open the way for ever-increasing de- 
grees of purification or empowerment. It 
makes the whole mind and image of the Master 
the specific goal toward which we constantly 
press, and to which we steadily approximate. 
It embodies a wholesome holiness, a sensible 
sanctification, a practical Christian perfection, 
something which can be preached in our 
Churches without embarrassment or embitter- 
ment, without fear or friction, and something 
approved by the most critical philosophical 

310 



APPENDIX 

thought. It is a continuous rather than a con- 
summated sanctification, not an absolute finality 
at any point, but exerting an immense stimula- 
tion at all points. If adopted it will inaugurate 
a higher type of religion among us, and will 
contribute vastly to the spiritual prosperity of 
the Church, bringing back much of the old-time 
power. 

May God grant this for His Name's sake. 
Amen and Amen. 



311 



INDEX. 



Adams, B. M.. 



96 



Backsliding 145, 165 

Baptism with the Holy Ghost...269 

Beet, J. Agar 272, 292 

Bishops, deliverances of 222 

Bishops, endorsement of 15, 218 

Booth, Mrs. Catherine 105 

Bushnell, Horace 94 

C 

Chapman, J. Wilbur 83 

Christlikeness 173 

Cleansing 274 

Cookman, Alfred 3, 67 

Curtis, Olin A 272, 301 

D 
Depravity 133, 155, 161, 308 

E 
Earle, A. B 72 

F 

Fanaticism 303 

Finney, C. G 74 

Fisk, Wilbur 3, 60 

Fletcher, Mrs. Mary 98 

Foster, Bishop R. S 298, 304 

Fox, George 90 

Full Salvation 280, 286 

G 

God's Will 176, 183, 212 

Gordon, A. J 306 

H 

Havergal, Miss F. R 101 

Heaven 178 

Hedding, Elijah 3, 59 

Higher Path 115, 148 

Holiness 127, 188, 244, 246, 257 

I 

Ideal Christians 179, 186, 202 

Infirmities 262 

J 

James, Mrs. Mary D 107 

Judson, Adoniram 92 

K 
Knowledge 157, 170, 191, 252 



Lower Path 147, 259 

M 

Mahan, Asa 84, 227 

Maturity 105, 195 

Merrill, Bishop S. M. 298 

Methodism 218, 245 

Moody, D. L 77 

Mudge, James 29, 212, 302 

Muller, Geo 91 



Olin, Stephen.. 



Perfection 23, 170, 256 

Perfect Love 191, 249 

Prayer 179 

Professions 162,247 

Providence 212 

R 

Raymond, Miner 296 

Reading 180 

Regeneration 137, 144, 171 

S 

Sanctiflcation 123, 142, 277 

Scripture Texts 14, 117, 125, 167, 

192, 214, 267, 269, 270 

Second Work 153, 234, 244 

Sheldon, H. C 272 

Sins 133, 151, 205, 262 

Smith, Mrs. H. W .110, 227 

Steele, Daniel 3,70 

T 

Temptation 215, 266 

Terminology ..17, 120, 127, 232, 285, 308 
Tillett, W. F 272, 300 

U 
Upham, ; Thomas C 86 

W 

Warren, William F 11, 24 

Wesley 165, 218, 232, 245, 299 

Whedon, D. D 272, 296 

Witness of the Holy Spirit 271 



List of Books by 
Rev. James Mudge, D. D. 



The Perfect Life. Crown Octavo. 
$1.25 net. 

The Riches of His Grace. 12 mo. 
$1.00 net. 

Poems With Power to Strengthen 
the Souii. Crown. 8 vo. Gilt 
top. $1.50 net. 

The Best of Browning. 12 mo. 

$1.00. 

Fen Eii on — The Mystic. 12 mo. 

$1.00 net. 

Growth in Holiness Toward Per- 
fection or Progressive Sanc- 
tifioation. 12 mo. $1.00. 

Honey From Many Hives. 12 mo. 

$1.00. 

The Land of Faith. 16 mo. 25 

cents neto 
The Life of Love. 16 mo. 25 cents 

net. 

The Saintly Calling. 12 mo. 25 
cents net. By mail 35 cents. 



(EixiaxttwAxz ^eftr l^atkz 

Jennings & Graham Eaton & Mains 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: August 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



SEP 1 »»ll 



